In order to make weight for races, most jockeys keep up intense fitness regimens and strict diets year round; their small, muscular frames have almost zero body fat. As a result, they can take a licking. Doctors told Stevens that he would likely never compete in athletics, or even walk again without pain. After eighteen months, he shed the leg brace.
In high school, he joined the wrestling team, eventually earning college-scholarship offers. By the age of sixteen, he was riding thoroughbred horses conditioned by his father, a trainer. He dropped out of school in to ride full time. Five years later, doctors were telling Stevens that his career was over.
One morning in , Stevens was helping a trainer get a young horse used to breaking out of the starting gate, a dangerous job that veteran jockeys usually avoid. Stevens had been warned that that the horse, a filly named Irish Crystal, had given other riders trouble. But he was twenty years old, and considered himself invincible. The horse tried to turn the wrong way on the track and collided with the inner rail. Stevens was catapulted into the rail, tearing cartilage from his right shoulder and his right knee, giving him a concussion and rupturing his eardrum.
He was found bleeding from the nose and ears. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association regulates when and how jockeys can compete. Quite a bit of work has to goes into getting a license, though, so people as young as 16 can start riding horses on the track in the mornings, working them out.
Once a jockey gets their license they have to convince a trainer to give them a ride. This is where the relationships, built by working horses in the early morning, come into play. Trainers need to have a certain amount of trust in the rider: to ride the race smartly and bring the horse back healthy. Some of that is luck, but a bad jockey can doom a horse before the race starts. Racing itself is a little different, just because jockeys have to stay on such a strict regimen to maintain their weight.
However, you still see a much wider variety in ages among the jockeys than you do in most other sports. In the Triple Crown races, the full breadth of youth and experience can be seen. The youngest jockey to win the Derby was Alonzo Clayton. He won the event at 15 years old in Obviously a few things have changed since then. On the other end of the spectrum, the oldest jockey to win the Derby was Bill Shoemaker. Weighing is done to ensure that the horse carried the proper race during their run.
Racehorse trainers prefer a jockey weighs as close as possible to the assigned weight. They believe the weight is carried better by the horse when on a live body rather than extra weights in a bag. I wrote an article all about Jockeys including some interesting facts about why they dress the way they do. If you want to learn more about the life of a jockey I suggest your check it out. Racehorse owners always want a lightweight jockey riding their horses, and Jockeys only make money when they ride.
In riders were allowed to weigh as low as 95 pounds including the equipment weight. Over the years, Jockeys have used various methods to reach their weight goals. Like other athletes who must meet strict weight requirements, Jockey put their bodies through an extreme challenge. Not only must they lose vast amounts of weight, but they must also stay healthy enough to ride and direct their horse. The lighter a rider is, the more horses he can ride. Some adverse effects of their strive to lose weight are dental erosion, nutritional deficiencies, menstrual irregularity, low bone density, dehydration, and heat stress.
Any of which can harm the rider on race day. Jockeys having to cut weight to lbs is dangerously unhealthy. Besides increasing the burden horses carry in a race, it makes sense to include more female jockeys because fit females naturally have less weight to lose in order to ride in a race. Recently doctors developed a special diet and fitness regimens geared to help jockeys maintain a healthy weight. Although diet modifications provide benefits, the most effective adjustment is to increase the weight horses carry.
Water control is their last resort. When they need to pull weight lose pounds quickly they come in before the race and jump in the sauna or steam room. If a horse races and comes in first, second or third, the trainer gets 10 percent of the purse, the amount of money the horse earns for racing. How to buy infield tickets for the Kentucky Derby. To be eligible for the Kentucky Derby, horses have to be nominated.
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