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In sport, a jockey is one who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession.
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Horse racing
Jockeys are normally self employed, nominated by horse trainers to ride their horses in races, for a fee (which is paid regardless of the prize money the horse earns for a race) and a cut of the purse winnings. In Australia, employment of apprentice jockeys is in terms of indenture to a master (a trainer); and there is a clear employee/employer relationship. When an apprentice jockey finishes his 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 appreniceship system serves to induct young people into racing employment.
Jockeys usually start out when they are young, riding work in the morning for trainers, and entering the riding profession as an apprentice jockey. It is normally necessary for an apprentice jockey to ride a minimum of about 20 barrier trials successfully before being permitted to commence riding 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.1 All jockeys must be licensed and usually are not able to have an interest in a bet on a race. An apprentice jockey has a master, who is a horse trainer, and also is allowed to "claim" weight off the horse's back (if a horse were to carry 58 kg, and the apprentice was able to claim 3 kg, the horse would only have to carry 55 kg on its back) in some races. After a 4 year indentured apprenticeship, the apprentice becomes a senior jockey2 and would usually develop 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 rides their horses in races.
Racing modeled on the English Jockey Club spread throughout the world with colonial expansion, and in one view is a vehicle of hegemony. The emergence of women jockeys in the 1970s followed a wider cultural trend in female interest in sports. The emergence did raise argument about the suitability of women in the demanding role of jockeys, and whilst there are a number of high-level female jockeys, the profession is still dominated by men as illustrated in the list below:
Notable jockeys include
- Eddie Arcaro
- Jerry Bailey
- Russell Baze
- Scobie Breasley
- Tony Cruz
- Pat Day
- Kent Desormeaux
- Frankie Dettori
- Garrett Gomez
- Roy Higgins
- Earl Sande
- Chris McCarron
- Tony McCoy
- Richard Migliore
- George T. D. Moore
- Lester Piggott
- Laffit Pincay, Jr.
- Red Pollard
- Edgar Prado
- Sir Gordon Richards
- Jose Santos
- Willie Shoemaker
- Ron Turcotte
- Ruby Walsh
Various awards are given annually by organizations affiliated with the sport of thoroughbred racing in countries throughout the world. They include:
Racing colours
The colours worn by jockeys in races are the registered "colours" of the owner or trainer who employs them. The practice of horsemen wearing colours probably stems from medieval times when jousts were held between knights. But the origins of racing colours of multifarious patterns that are seen today may have been influenced by racing held in Italian city communities since medieval times. Such traditional events are still held on town streets and are remarkable for furious riding and the colourful spectacle they offer.
Getting white breeches and bib, stock or cravat known as "silks" is a rite of passage when a jockey is first able to don silken pants and colours in their first race ride, and it has a parallel in how lawyers are spoken of as "taking silk". At one time silks were invariably made of silk, though now synthetics are sometimes used instead. Nevertheless, the silks and their colours are important symbols evoking emotions of loyalty and festivity.
Robot jockeys
To replace child jockeys whose use had been deplored by human rights organizations, a camel race in Doha, Qatar for the first time featured robots at the reins. On July 13, 2005, workers fixed robotic jockeys on the backs of seven camels and raced the machine-mounted animals around a track. Operators controlled the jockeys remotely, signaling them to pull their reins and prod the camels with whips [1].
Risk factors
Horse jockeying is a sport where permanent, debilitating, and even life-threatening injuries occur. Chief among them include concussion, bone fracture, arthritis, trampling, and paralysis. Jockey insurance premiums remain among the highest of all professional sports.3 Between 1993 and 1996, 6,545 injuries occurred during official races for an injury rate of 606 per 1,000 jockey years.4 Eating disorders (such as anorexia) are also very common among jockeys, as the athletes face extreme pressure to maintain unusually low (and specific) weights for men, sometimes within a five pound (2.3 kg) margin.5 The bestselling historical novel 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 driving the men to alcoholism.
Etymology
The word is by origin a diminutive of "jock", the Northern or Scots colloquial equivalent of the first name "John," which is also used generically for "boy, or fellow" (compare "Jack," "Dick"), at least since 1529.
A familiar instance of the use of the word as a name is in "Jockey of Norfolkia" 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 rickster, a "sharp", whence the verb to jockey, "to outwit", or "to do" a person out of something.
The current usage which means a person who rides a horse in races was first seen in 1670.6
More recently, a colloquialism in the north west of England has emerged, offering a variation in terms of usage and meaning in the term "Jockey". The new slang implies that a person "Jockeys" something in order to control or maneuver an item or challenge. Also, Jockey and Jeanie are a famous duo named after the horseman term.
Physical description
Jockeys have a reputation for being very short, but there are no height limits, only weight limits. A rider can be of any height if they can still make weight, but it is still generally limited to fairly short individuals because of the limits on a person's body. Jockeys typically range from 5' to 5'7" in height.
External links
- Jockey
- Jockeys
- "Mandated Anorexia"
- "Jockey Career Description"
- Etymology Online
- "Mammals & Events: A Jockey's Hard Life". at PBS.org
See also
References
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- ^ McGarr, Elizabeth, "A Jockey's Life, Stage 1", Columbia News Service, Referenced August 12, 2008.
- ^ Apprentice Jockey
- ^ "Jockey insurance measure hits snag," Kentucky.com. http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/legislature/14156449.htm (accessed April 2, 2006)
- ^ Safety and Health in the Horse Racing Industry. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/HorseJockey/ (accessed October 10, 2008)
- ^ David Schmeichel, "Throwing up for a living - Bulimic jockeys common ... Going hungry," Winnepeg Sun. http://winsun.canoe.ca/News/FoodFright/2006/03/21/1497775-sun.html (accessed April 2, 2006)
- ^ "Jockey", Online Etymology Dictionary, Referenced August 12, 2008.
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 1 December 2008, at 05:40.
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