Jockey


A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual who rode horses in racing. They must be light, typically around a weight of 100–120 lb., and physically fit. They are typically self-employed, and are paid a small fee from the horse trainer, whose colors they wear while competing in a race. They also receive a percentage of the horse's winnings. The job has a very high risk of debilitating or life-threatening injuries, not only from racing accidents but also, because of strict weight restrictions, from eating disorders.
Originally, in most countries, the jockeys were all male. Over time, female jockeys have been allowed to ride; thus, now there are many successful and well-known female jockeys. The participation of African American jockeys has also had a complex history.

Etymology

The word is by origin a diminutive of jock, the Northern English or Scots colloquial equivalent of the first name John, which is also used generically for "boy" or "fellow", at least since 1529. A familiar instance of the use of the word as a name is in "Jockey of Norfolk" in Shakespeare's Richard III. v. 3, 304.
In the 16th and 17th centuries the word was applied to horse-dealers, postilions, itinerant minstrels and vagabonds, and thus frequently bore the meaning of a cunning trickster, a "sharp", whence the verb to jockey, "to outwit", or "to do" a person out of something. The current meaning of a person who rides a horse in races was first seen in 1670. Polly Adler also used "jock" as shorthand for "jockey" in her 1953 book, A House Is Not a Home.

Physical characteristics

Jockeys must be light to ride at the weights which are assigned to their mounts. There are horse carrying weight limits that are set by racing authorities. The Kentucky Derby, for example, has a weight limit of including the jockey's equipment. The weight of a jockey racing on the flat usually ranges from. Despite their light weight, they must be able to control a horse that is moving at and weighs. Though there is no height limit for jockeys, they are usually fairly short due to the weight limits.
Jockeys racing on the flat typically stand around to. Jump jockeys are often taller, with multiple examples over. Lester Piggott, considered one of the greatest flat jockeys, was nicknamed "Longfellow" for his height of, and Jack Andrews, who is, can ride at a weight of. Bruce Hobbs was at the tallest jockey ever to win the Grand National.

Role

Jockeys are normally self employed, nominated by horse trainers to ride their horses in races, for a fee and a percentage of the purse winnings. In Australia, employment of apprentice jockeys is in terms of indenture to a master ; and there is a clear employee-employer relationship. When an apprentice jockey finishes their apprenticeship and becomes a "fully fledged jockey", the nature of their employment and insurance requirements change because they are regarded as "freelance", like contractors. Jockeys often cease their riding careers to take up other employment in racing, usually as trainers. In this way the apprenticeship system serves to induct young people into racing employment.
Jockeys usually start out when they are young, exercising horses in the morning for trainers, and entering the riding profession as apprentice jockeys. It is normally necessary for an apprentice jockey to ride a minimum of about 20 barrier trials successfully before being permitted to ride in races. An apprentice jockey is known as a "bug boy" because the asterisk that follows the name in the program looks like a bug. All jockeys must be licensed and usually are not permitted to bet on a race. An apprentice jockey has a master, who is a horse trainer, and the apprentice is also allowed to "claim" weight off the horse's back: in handicapped races, more experienced riders will have their horses given an extra amount of weight to carry, whereas a jockey in their apprenticeship will have less weight on their horse, giving trainers an incentive to hire these less-experienced jockeys. This weight allowance is adjusted according to the number of winners that the apprentice has ridden. After a four-year indentured apprenticeship, the apprentice becomes a senior jockey and usually develops relationships with trainers and individual horses. Sometimes senior jockeys are paid a retainer by an owner which gives the owner the right to insist the jockey ride their horses in races.
Racing modeled on the English Jockey Club spread throughout the world with colonial expansion.

Racing colours

The colours worn by jockeys in races are the registered "colours" of the owner or trainer who employs them. The practice of riders wearing colours probably stems from medieval times when jousts were held between knights. However, the origins of racing colours of various patterns may have been influenced by racing held in Italian city communities since medieval times. Purple, gold and or yellow/nude, Such traditional events are still held on town streets and are known for furious riding and the colorful spectacle they offer.
While the term "silks" is used in the United States to refer to racing colours, technically "silks" are the white breeches and bib, stock or cravat. Obtaining them is a rite of passage when a jockey is first able to don silken pants and colors in their first race ride. At one time silks were invariably made of silk chosen for being a lightweight fabric, though now synthetics are used instead. Silks and their colours are important symbols of loyalty and festivity.
Many of the silks bear chequered patterns, polka dots, stripes or icons such as quatrefoils. The wearing of silks originated in the United Kingdom. They were first mentioned in 1515, and the current system was formally established in the 1700s. Horses are identified as they race by the colourful, traditional silk shirts and helmets their jockeys wear, these representing the horses' owners. The colours need to be significantly different to serve this purpose and are registered by each Australian state's Principal Racing Authority.
The silks of famous jockeys, horses and owners can fetch high prices at auction, suggesting the esteem in which history and tradition are held in horse racing. Although Racing Australia requires that all jockeys wear approved helmets and safety vests, racegoers are unaware of this latter safety equipment as it is worn beneath the silks. Jockeys also wear a 'skivvy' under the silks. On race days the skivvy chosen is a lightweight mesh or microfibre bodysuit, sleeved or sleeveless, whereas, for track work, a more heavy-duty version may be worn. Summarising, during an Australian race day, jockeys must wear the following: the helmet, goggles, silks, vest, breeches, gloves, boots, saddle and girth and stirrups.

Awards

Various awards are given annually to jockeys by organizations affiliated with the sport of thoroughbred racing in countries throughout the world. They include:
Horse racing is a sport where jockeys may incur permanent, debilitating, and even life-threatening injuries. Chief among them include concussion, bone fractures, arthritis, trampling, and paralysis. Jockey insurance premiums remain among the highest of all professional sports. Between 1993 and 1996, 6,545 injuries occurred during official races for an injury rate of 606 per 1,000 jockey years. In Australia race riding is regarded as being the second most deadly job, after offshore fishing. From 2002 to 2006 five deaths and 861 serious injuries were recorded.
Eating disorders are also very common among jockeys, as they face extreme pressure to maintain unusually low weights, sometimes within a five-pound margin. The bestselling biography, Seabiscuit: An American Legend chronicled the eating disorders of jockeys living in the first half of the twentieth century. As in the cases of champion jockey Kieren Fallon and Robert Winston, the pressure to stay light has been blamed in part for jockeys suffering agonies of thirst from dehydration while racing. Sports Dietitians Australia warns: "Dehydration and energy depletion may compromise concentration and coordination." Indeed, recent research carried out in association with the Irish Turf Club measured the effects of rapid weight loss to make weight in professional and apprentice jockeys and found significant levels of dehydration; however, cognitive function was maintained, suggesting jockeys had become accustomed to performing in a dehydrated state and had potentially developed a preventative mechanism to enable them to perform under these conditions.
In January 2016 it was announced that the International Concussion and Head Injury Research Foundation will run a new study. Named 'Concussion in Sport' it will be the first study to take a detailed look at the effects of concussion on sports people, including on around 200 retired jockeys.

Female jockeys

Based on American statistics, women comprise only 14% of working jockeys, and ride only 10% of all race starts.

Australia

During the 1850s, women-only horse-racing events were held in Victoria, Australia; women were not permitted to ride as professional jockeys or on professional tracks with men.
Although women jockeys were barred from riding at registered race meetings, in the mid-1900s Wilhemena Smith rode as Bill Smith at north Queensland racecourses. She was nicknamed Bill Girlie Smith because she arrived on course with her riding gear on under her clothes and did not shower on course. It was only at the time of her death in 1975 that the racing world was officially told that Bill was really Wilhemena. Subsequent inquiries proved that William Smith was actually a woman who had been born Wilhemena Smith in a Sydney hospital in 1886. In an era when women were clearly denied equality, she had become known as a successful jockey in Queensland country districts as 'Bill Smith'. Elizabeth Williams Berry rode in Melbourne and internationally, disguised as a boy and using the name, Jack Williams.
During the late 1960s, restrictions against female trainers were lifted in Australia, but female jockeys were still confined to "ladies only" events, which were held on non-professional tracks. The Victoria Racing Club in 1974 permitted women jockeys to be registered for professional "ladies only" events. In 1978, racing rules in New Zealand were amended to permit women jockeys.
In the late 1970s, pioneers such as Pam O'Neill in Australia and Linda Jones from New Zealand forced jockey club officials to grant women the right to compete on an equal footing in registered races against men. They were unquestionably the first women jockeys to be licensed to ride in the metropolitan areas of Australia. Previously women had been riding against men in Australia at the unregistered "all-height" meetings. O'Neill created a world record for any jockey, male or female, when she rode a treble at Southport on her first day's riding.
Australia's top woman jockey, Bev Buckingham, became the first woman in the Southern Hemisphere to win 1,000 races. In 1998, in a fall at the Elwick Racecourse, she broke her neck. She used a wheelchair for some time afterward, but regained her strength and mobility and was able to walk again without assistance.
In 2004–05, Clare Lindop won the Adelaide jockeys' premiership and became the first woman to win a metropolitan jockeys' premiership in mainland Australia. In 2005, Andrea Leek became the first woman to ride the winner of the Grand National Hurdle at Flemington when she won aboard Team Heritage.
In 2009 it was reported women account for 17% of jockeys in Victoria. But, they receive only 10% of the rides, and are often overlooked in favour of male jockeys, especially in the cities. In some regions of Australia about half of the apprentice jockey intakes are women.
In January 2015 at Mount Gambier, South Australia, all eight races on the card were won by women jockeys: Emily Finnegan, Clare Lindop, Holly McKechnie and Chelsea Jokic.
Michelle Payne became the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup on 3 November 2015.