Bailey, Jerry

▪ 2005

      When the 2003 Thoroughbred racing Eclipse Awards were handed out on Jan. 26, 2004, Jerry Bailey was proclaimed the outstanding jockey in North America for an unprecedented seventh time (1995–97 and 2000–03); in 1997 he had been the first jockey to win three consecutive Eclipse Awards. Bailey had recorded more victories in the prestigious Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships (13) than any other rider in the 20-year history of the competition and had led the nation's riders in total purse earnings seven times, including a record $23,354,960 in 2003. Although he might not be as universally recognized as such legendary jockeys as Johnny Longden, Eddie Arcaro, Willie Shoemaker, and Bill Hartack, the intensely competitive Bailey remained at the top of his game after a 30-year career, and his dominance of Thoroughbred racing over the previous decade had earned him a historical place in their company.

      Jerry Dale Bailey was born Aug. 29, 1957, in Dallas, Texas, the son of a prominent dentist who dabbled in racing as a horse owner. He had ambitions to participate in team sports, but his diminutive stature (1.65 m [5 ft 5 in] tall) eventually led him to the racetrack to pursue a career as a jockey. He began his professional riding career at New Mexico's Sunland Park, where, in November 1974 at age 17, he won the very first race in which he rode, astride a horse named Fetch. Bailey enjoyed considerable success around the country prior to establishing his presence as a rising star on the New York state circuit in 1982. He solidified his national stature with victories astride Hansel in the 1991 Preakness and Belmont Stakes, won his first Kentucky Derby in 1993 with Sea Hero, and was inducted into the National Racing Hall of Fame two years later. Bailey won his second Kentucky Derby riding Grindstone in 1996, added another Preakness win in 2000 with Red Bullet, and captured the 2003 Belmont on Empire Maker. In July 1996 he guided Cigar, a two-time Horse of the Year, to a 16th consecutive victory, equaling the modern era record set by 1948 Triple Crown champion Citation. On May 6, 2001, at Aqueduct Racetrack in New York, Bailey recorded his milestone 5,000th career win, and later that year he became the first rider to reach $20 million in purse earnings for a single season.

      In recent years Bailey had established personal limits on the number of horses he rode based on criteria that emphasized quality rather than quantity. In 2004 he ranked second on the all-time jockey earnings list (with $270,473,779) and 15th on the all-time win list (with 5,667 career victories), but the sport's preeminent “thinking man's rider” was likely to rise on both lists before his career was over.

John G. Brokopp

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