Gary L. Stevens

Gary L. Stevens
Gary Stevens at the 2013 Preakness Stakes
Occupation	Jockey
Born	(1963-03-06) March 6, 1963 Caldwell, Idaho, U.S.
Career wins	4960 US (ongoing),As of 16 January 2014 (2014-01-16)[1] 5000+ worldwide
Major racing wins, honours and awards
Major racing wins
American Classic Race wins: Kentucky Derby 1988 1995 1997 Preakness Stakes 1997 2001 2013 Belmont Stakes 1995 1998 2001 Kentucky Oaks 1986 1999 Breeders' Cup wins Breeders' Cup Turf (1990) Breeders' Cup Juvenile (1993, 1999) Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (1998) Breeders' Cup Mile (1996, 2000) Breeders' Cup Distaff (1994, 1998, 2013) Breeders' Cup Classic (2013) Grade I stakes wins Santa Anita Derby 1988 1990 1993-1995 1998-1999 2001 2003 Santa Anita Handicap 1990 1991 1995 2005 Arlington Million 1990 1997 Pacific Classic Stakes 1993 1997 Del Mar Debutante Stakes 1987 1998 1992 2002 2013 Eddie Read Handicap 1985 1995 La Brea Stakes 1987 1990 1995 1998 2013 Jockey Club Gold Cup 1992 Wood Memorial Stakes 1994 Travers Stakes 1995 2001 Hollywood Futurity 2000 Vanity Invitational Handicap 1995 2001 2013 Las Virgenes Stakes 1987 1992 1993 2014 San Marcos Stakes 1993 2002 2004 2013 Santa Maria Handicap 1988 1996 2001 2002 2013 Awesome Again Stakes 1988 1994 1998 2005 2013 John Henry Turf Championship Stakes 1988 2003 2013 Gamely Stakes 1992 1997 2013 Haskell Invitational Stakes 1995 2001 Zenyatta Stakes 1995 2013 Major international race wins Japan Cup 1991 Canadian International Stakes 1996 1998 Hardwicke Stakes 1997 Dubai World Cup 1998 International Stakes 1999 Duke of Edinburgh Stakes 1999 Great Voltigeur Stakes 1999 Dubai Sheema Classic 2004 Prix Maurice de Gheest 2004
Racing awards
George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award (1996) Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey (1998) Mike Venezia Memorial Award (1999) Big Sport of Turfdom Award (2013)
Significant horses
Da Hoss Winning Colors Thunder Gulch Singspiel Silver Charm Victory Gallop Bertrando Silverbulletday Point Given Royal Anthem Fantastic Light Rock Hard Ten Serena's Song Commentator Oxbow Beholder Mucho Macho Man

Gary Lynn Stevens (born March 6, 1963 in Caldwell, Idaho) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey, actor, television personality and sports analyst. He worked as a jockey from 1979 until a brief retirement due to knee problems from 1999 until 2000, whereupon he returned to racing. He had an acting role in the 2003 film Seabiscuit and continued to ride until a second retirement in 2005, also related to knee issues. He then worked for HRTV and NBC Sports as a horse racing analyst for seven years, had a brief stint as a race horse trainer, and took a few other acting roles, notably in the TV series Luck, before coming out of retirement again in 2013. In the 2013 season, he won 69 of 383 races and finished the year 12th in the nation in purse earnings, winning a number of significant races including the 2013 Preakness Stakes, the Breeders' Cup Distaff and the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Background

Although forced to wear a hip brace for 19 months at age 7 due to a degenerative disease of the hip, Perthes syndrome, Stevens began working for his horse trainer father, Ron, as a groom at age 8. By the time he was 14, he was riding American Quarter Horses.

Stevens dropped out of high school, after an all-star wrestling season, to become a full-time jockey. He began his career in 1979 at Les Bois Park in Boise, Idaho, and in his first start had a winner Thoroughbred. From there he soon became a leading rider in Washington. He then moved down the coast into California, becoming part of the leading competitive jockey groups there.

Racing career

In 1993, Gary Stevens became the youngest jockey to surpass $100 million in earnings.

Stevens won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes three times each. He won the Santa Anita Derby a record nine times, and he's won eight Breeders' Cup races, making him the fourth-leading money winner in Breeders' Cup history so far. At the time of his 2005 retirement, his mounts had collected over $221 million with 4,888 winners in the US^[2] and 5005 wins^[3] when including overseas victories,^[4] including 49 wins in the UK,^[5] and 20 victories in Hong Kong.^[6] Coming back in 2013, he won the Preakness Stakes on Oxbow and added additional wins to his lifetime total, including an international victory in the Shergar Cup at Ascot Racecourse that raised his lifetime win record in the United Kingdom to 50.^[5]

Awards

Stevens at the 2005 Kentucky Derby

Gary Stevens has won numerous awards and prizes in the horse racing industry, including the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1996. The award honors riders whose careers and personal conduct exemplifies the very best example of participants in the sport of Thoroughbred racing. In 1997, Stevens entered the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and in 1998, he was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in the United States. In 1999, he was voted the Mike Venezia Memorial Award for "extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship".

The Perfect Ride

In 2002, Gary wrote a book about his life called The Perfect Ride.^[7][8] Hall of Fame sportscaster Jack Whitaker had this to say about Stevens' book: "A Perfect Ride is a great read, not only for horse racing fans, but for anyone interested in how the American dream really works."

Acting career

In the 2003 film Seabiscuit, Stevens played jockey George Woolf. In 2011 he became a regular cast member on the HBO television series Luck produced by avid horse racing fan and Thoroughbred owner David Milch, starring as an on-the-skids jockey named Ronnie.

Retirement

Gary Stevens at his 2005 retirement with his wife, Angie.

On November 27, 2005, Stevens announced his retirement. That day at Churchill Downs, he finished second aboard a 4-year-old mare named Louve Royale.^[9] A week after his favorite horse, Rock Hard Ten, was forced to retire due to a foot injury, Stevens started working in January 2006 as a racing analyst with TVG. Also that month he joined NBC Sports as its lead horse racing analyst. James Risch, Governor of Idaho, proclaimed the week of July 10, 2006, to be Gary Stevens Week.^[10] In March 2007, Stevens became the jockey agent for Corey Nakatani. Gary started a new job as a racing commentator for HRTV on January 1, 2008. On June 1, 2009, Stevens began Gary Stevens Racing Stable Inc. where Stevens trained horses with the assistance of his son, T.C. Stevens. Stevens' horses were stabled at Santa Anita and shipped to various races throughout the country.^[11]

In 2003, Gary Stevens stated in an interview with Charlie Rose that he doesn't think there will be another Triple Crown winner because of the tendency for owners to put fresh horses in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.^[12] After Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby in 2008, Stevens said: "It's been 30 years since we had our last Triple Crown winner – it's time for another."^[13]

Comeback

Stevens after winning 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic on Mucho Macho Man

On January 3, 2013, Stevens revealed on HRTV that he was coming out of retirement to ride horses as a professional jockey again. He was named to ride a horse at Santa Anita Park on January 6.^[14] On January 12, 2013, Stevens won the first race of his comeback. It was an MSW event at Santa Anita Racetrack aboard the filly Branding, bred by Royal Pegasus Farm, Lexington, Kentucky.

Stevens' first graded stakes win of his comeback came in the 2013 San Marcos Stakes when he guided home Slim Shadey for the horse's second win in that race. On May 18, 2013, Stevens aboard Oxbow won the 138th Preakness Stakes, his third Preakness win, as well as winning the Dixieland Stakes on the undercard with Skyring.^[15] On November 1–2 at Santa Anita Park, Stevens won his third Breeders' Cup Distaff with Beholder as well as his first Breeders' Cup Classic aboard Mucho Macho Man.^[16] His Classic win was the first in 15 total attempts, and he was the only jockey to have ridden in both the first Breeders' Cup in 1984 and in the 30th even in 2013.^[17] He finished the year 12th in the nation by earnings with 69 wins from 383 races and his lifetime wins total stood at 4,957.^[1] HIs wins for 2013 included 18 graded stakes victories.^[18] 2013 marked Stevens' third most successful year since 2000, comparing favorably to his 23 graded stakes wins from 487 starts and 94 wins in 2005 and 532 starts with 99 wins with 22 graded stakes wins in 2001.^[1][18]

Statistics

References

• Stevens, Gary with Kaufman, Mervyn, Shoemaker, Bill (foreword) The Perfect Ride (2002) Citadel ISBN 0-8065-2361-1
• Del Mar Media Guide

External links

• Gary Stevens official website
• Profile at National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
• NTRA bio
• Gary Stevens at the Internet Movie Database