| Francine Villeneuve | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Jockey |
| Born | July 22, 1964 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Career wins | 1,000 |
| Major racing wins, honours and awards | |
| Major racing wins | |
| Durham Cup Stakes (1992) Hilltop Stakes (1997) Autumn Stakes (2001) Bison City Stakes (2001) Frost King Stakes (2003) Colin Stakes (2004) Silver Deputy Stakes (2004) |
|
| Racing awards | |
| Avelino Gomez Memorial Award (2004) |
|
| Significant horses | |
| Wilderness Song, Autumn Snow | |
Francine Villeneuve (born July 22, 1964 in Ottawa) is a retired Canadian thoroughbred jockey and racing pioneer.
She is sometimes referred to by the nickname "The Queen of Fort Erie"[1] because of a long affiliation with the border oval. With 1,000 victories and 3,064 combined wins, places and shows, she retired in the Fall of 2011 as the winningest female Canadian jockey of all time and was the first Canadian woman to achieve the 1,000 wins milestone.[2]
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The only child of Ron and Eleanor (née Broderick) Villeneuve, Francine grew up around horses on the family farm in Winchester Springs, Ontario. While attending Humber College for equine studies, she took a summer job at Woodbine Racetrack as a hot walker in 1984 and by 1987 she was a licensed racing jockey.
Ever the trailblazer, within four years, in June 1991, Villeneuve crossed the finish line second in the Queen's Plate, riding Wilderness Song, making history as the first female ever to place in Canada's oldest and most prestigious race. At the same time she was also the first Canadian woman to even ride in the event. By that August she would go on to become the first woman to ever ride in all three of the Canadian Triple Crown races; the Queen's Plate, the Prince of Wales Stakes and the Breeders' Stakes respectively.
Over the next decade and a half, as the victories and the "first female to..." milestones began to accumulate, her career saw many successes which culminated in 2004, when she became the first female winner of the prestigious Avelino Gomez Memorial Award. A year later she became the first woman to finish in the money at the 2005 Prince of Wales Stakes, barely missing the victory by a nose-hair to finish second aboard a 16:1 outsider named Autumn Snow. Villeneuve has also competed in the Breeders' Cup races on two occasions. In May 2002 with her 600th victory, she overtook fellow pioneer Regina Sealock as the winningest female jockey[4] in Canadian history.
After 24 years "in the irons" she rode more than 8,100[5] mounts and was also the first Canadian woman to reach the milestones of 1,000 seconds, 1,000 thirds, and the first to show a combined 3,000 times. All of this was achieved despite losing time in the saddle because of several serious injuries and taking two personal hiatuses from the sport; the first, a one year break during her peak years to give birth to her son Aaron, and the second, a three year sabbatical to better tend to her family.[6] Her pioneering spirit and unassuming nature made her a fan favorite that would forever kick in the door of the historically male dominated sport and help to clear a path for other great Canadian jockeys like Chantal Sutherland and Emma-Jayne Wilson.
On October 31, 2011 in one of her final races, she rode Red Hot Doll to victory in the $30,000 Fan's Cup at Fort Erie Race Track for career win number 1,000. She retired as the all-time leading Canadian woman in wins, places and shows and was second only to Sealock in all-time starts. Today, along with her husband Bruce and her son, Villenueve lives on a horse farm in central Florida, where she trains, breeds and shows rare Akhal-Tekes.[7] Francine Villeneuve has also been a longtime supporter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Francine Villeneuve's Career Thoroughbred Racing Summary: (source: equibase.com) Starts Firsts Seconds Thirds Earnings *8,129 *999 1,019 1,065 *$15,456,354
note: equibase data does not reflect a July 2011 victory aboard Turbine[8] in Kingston, Jamaica, which bring her totals to 8,130 starts, 1,000 victories and $15,461,204 in earnings.