How old can a Thoroughbred horse jockey be? Success stories after age 50

How old can a Thoroughbred horse jockey be?

In many sports, youth is an advantage for athletes. That’s not always the case with jockeys in Thoroughbred horse racing. Experience goes a long way in helping jockeys judge pace and guide horses through traffic. And while many top jockeys are in their 20s and 30s, it’s common to see riders in their 40s and 50s achieve success as well.

Which brings us back to our opening question: how old can a jockey be? Horse racing’s treasure trove of historical data can provide us with the answer.

Research methodology

We’ll begin by establishing a baseline: what is the average age of jockeys competing at the highest level of U.S. Thoroughbred horse racing? To answer this question, we’ll calculate the average age of the top 10 leading jockeys by earnings every year from 2015-2024, as recorded by industry database Equibase.

Then we’ll pour over other types of statistical data—winning percentages, all-time wins and earnings rankings, lists of Kentucky Derby (G1)-winning and Breeders’ Cup-winning jockeys—and search for jockeys who achieved success at ages at least 50% older than the baseline average age of leading jockeys.

Analysis

Between 2015 and 2024, the average age of the top 10 jockeys by earnings ranged from 30.6 years to 35.5 years. The average age for the entire decade was 32.56 years.

Average age of the top 10 highest-earning jockeys, by year

This means a jockey 50% older than the average leading rider would be 48.84 years old, which we’ll round to 49 years.

Recent leading jockeys by earnings

From 2015 through 2024, two jockeys in the 49-and-older bracket finished among the top 10 jockeys by earnings.

Mike Smith cracked the top 10 at age 51 in 2016 and again at 52 in 2017. John Velazquez turned 49 in 2020 and has finished in the top 10 every year since then, most recently at age 53 in 2024.

All-time leading jockeys by wins

Unsurprisingly, the winningest jockeys of all time have enjoyed long careers allowing them to accumulate thousands of wins. They’ve demonstrated that top-tier success can be found at ages much older than average for leading jockeys.

Russell Baze is the winningest jockey in U.S. and Canadian history. In 2008, the year he turned 50, Baze became the first rider on the Equibase rankings to win 10,000 races. He broke the 11,000 milestone in 2010, cracked 12,000 in 2013, and retired in 2016—a couple months shy of his 58th birthday—with a grand total of 12,842 victories.

Oldest jockey to win a race

The winningest jockey currently active is Perry Wayne Ouzts, fifth all-time with 7,488 wins through the end of 2024. In 2024, the year he turned 70, Ouzts won 69 out of 295 races, compiling a lofty 23% win rate that ranks as his highest since at least 1976. Records indicate that Ouzts is the oldest jockey (and only septuagenarian) to win a Thoroughbred race at an officially recognized U.S. racetrack.

Oldest jockey to ride in a race

In 2005, jockey Frank Amonte Sr. rode his last winning horse at age 69. But he didn’t stop riding for several more years. On Sept. 6, 2011—the day after turning 76—Amonte finished second in his final race. He’s the oldest jockey to ride a Thoroughbred in a race at a recognized U.S. racetrack.

Kentucky Derby-winning jockeys

The oldest jockey to win the Kentucky Derby (G1) is Bill Shoemaker. About 3 1/2 months before turning 55 years old, Shoemaker guided Ferdinand to a decisive triumph in the 1986 Kentucky Derby.

Two other jockeys have won the Kentucky Derby at roughly age 49 or older. John Velazquez was less than three months away from turning 49 when he won the 2020 Kentucky Derby aboard Authentic. In 2018, not long before turning 53 years old, Mike Smith rode Justify to sweep the 2018 Triple Crown.

Breeders’ Cup-winning jockeys

The oldest jockey to win a Breeders’ Cup race is Bill Shoemaker. In 1987, after turning 56, Shoemaker rode Ferdinand to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).

Mike Smith nearly matched the record, winning the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) aboard Corniche at age 56, but he was technically a few days younger than when Shoemaker won the Classic.

Several other jockeys have won Breeders’ Cup races in their 50s, including Frankie Dettori, John Velazquez, Lester Piggott, and Gary Stevens. Piggott was only nine days short of 55 when he won the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) aboard Royal Heroine.

Grade 1-winning jockeys

Jockeys approaching 60 years of age have been known to win races of the highest caliber.

In 2024, 59-year-old Mike Smith rode Subsanador to win the California Crown (G1) by a head in a three-horse photo finish.

Smith’s drive to the wire was almost as exciting as the stretch run of the 1966 San Juan Capistrano Handicap, which marked the final ride of 59-year-old Johnny Longden. In an incredible conclusion to a much-publicized race, Longden guided George Royal to win by a nose, retiring as the winningest jockey to that point in time with 6,032 wins.

Although races weren’t graded in 1966, the San Juan Capistrano was a top-tier race of the era, and it carried Grade 1 status from the introduction of grading in 1973 until 2003.

Conclusions

Although the average age of leading jockeys in the U.S. and Canada is about 32.5 years old, jockeys at least 50% older—ages 49 and up—regularly achieve high levels of success. Jockeys between the ages of 50 and 59 have won many Grade 1 races and are occasionally seen in the winner’s circle at the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup.

Meanwhile, Perry Wayne Ouzts has demonstrated that it’s possible for a jockey to compile an elite win percentage at the age of 70, and Frank Amonte Sr. showed age 76 isn’t too old to ride competitively. If a jockey stays healthy and fit, it’s not impossible for a successful career to span more than half a century.