Craig Perret (born February 2, 1951, inNew Orleans, Louisiana) is an Americanthoroughbred horse racingjockey. He began riding horses at age five and by seven was ridingquarter horses inmatch races. At age fifteen he began his career in thoroughbred racing and in 1967 was the leading apprentice jockey in the United States in terms of money won.[1]
In 1987 Perret rodeBet Twice to victory in theBelmont Stakes.[2] In 1990, aboardUnbridled, he won theKentucky Derby,[3] and in 1993-94 won back-to-backQueen's Plates,Canada's most prestigious race. In addition, Perret won theBreeders' Cup Sprint in 1984 and 1990; theBreeders' Cup Juvenile in 1989; and theBreeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in 1996. Of his more than 4,400 career victories to date, he has also had majorstakes race wins including theFlorida Derby,Acorn Stakes,Pimlico Special,Travers Stakes,Haskell Invitational Handicap and theWood Memorial Stakes.
He has earned a number of other accolades including the 1990Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey of the year,[4] and in 1998 his peers voted him theGeorge Woolf Memorial Jockey Award.[5]
Craig Perret and his family live on a farm inShelbyville,Kentucky and operate a small full-breedbreeding operation.
In 1994, Craig Perret was inducted into theFair Grounds Racing Hall of Fame[6] and in 2006 into theLouisiana Sports Hall of Fame.[7] In 2006 he was also nominated for induction in theNational Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, and was officially inducted in 2019.[8]
References
edit- ^Craig Perret bio at the NTRAArchived 2015-09-24 at theWayback Machine
- ^New York Times - June 7, 1987
- ^New York Times - May 6, 1990
- ^Dallas Morning News - February 10, 1991
- ^George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award at the Jockeys' GuildArchived 2016-06-01 at theWayback Machine
- ^"Fair Grounds Hall of Fame"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2017-10-11. Retrieved2012-06-02.
- ^Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame
- ^Craig Perret 2006 nomination at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of FameArchived 2007-04-15 at theWayback Machine