Click on the Read More link below to read about the National Steeplechase Association’s leading jockeys at the start of the 2016 racing season.
BERNIE DALTON
Birthdate: July 24, 1968. Home: Camden, S.C. 2015 record: 77-12-7-10, $420,000. 2014 record: 66-7-6-11, $220,000. Had three 2015 Saratoga wins, including eventual novice champion African Oil in the Jonathan Kiser Novice Stakes. Won David L. “Zeke” Ferguson Memorial (Gr. 3) and Carolina Cup aboard Diplomat. Won 2013 New York Turf Writers Cup (Gr. 1) on Jonathan Sheppard’s Italian Wedding. Rode Cat Feathers to victories in the 2012 and 2014 Mrs. Ogden Phipps Stakes for his wife, owner-trainer Kate Dalton. Got his start with Irish trainer Des McDonogh. Former exercise rider for top flat trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. Rode his first winner, Brickway, on May 7, 1986, at Downpatrick Racecourse in Northern Ireland.
JACK DOYLE
Birthdate: June 21, 1989. Home: Monkton, Md. Earnings Leader: 2015. 2015 record: 59-14-4-8, $625,450. 2014 record: 7-2-0-0, $104,250. Locked up 2015 earnings title on season’s final day. Won Saratoga’s New York Turf Writers Cup (Gr. 1) and Belmont Park’s Lonesome Glory Handicap (Gr. 1) aboard Bob Le Beau. Successful Irish jockey made a big splash at Saratoga in 2014 when he rode Makari to victory in the A. P. Smithwick Memorial (Gr. 1) for his initial U.S. win. Picked up the mount on Eclipse Award winner Demonstrative and won the Calvin Houghland Iroquois (Gr. 1). Also rode Syros to victory in Iroquois’ Marcellus Frost Novice Stakes.
ROSS GERAGHTY
Birthdate: March 1, 1977. Home: Fallston, Md. Champion: 2012. Earnings Leader: 2012. 2015 record: 45-6-6-8, $409,400. 2014 record: 73-14-13-8, $446,155. Came back after missing much of the 2015 spring season to ride Irv Naylor’s Dawalan to wins in Grand National (Gr. 1) and Marion du Pont Scott Colonial Cup (Gr. 1) to sew up Eclipse Award. Also rode Naylor’s One Lucky Lady to victory in Far Hills’ Peapack Stakes. Ranked fifth by 2015 earnings despite abbreviated season. Veteran Irish jockey tied for second by wins in 2014. Was 2012’s champion jockey by wins and earnings. Rode Naylor’s Black Jack Blues to 2011 Eclipse Award. Scored his first win in 1997 aboard Fine de Claire at Punchestown. Won the 2002 Irish Grand National on The Bunny Boiler. Made a strong start in U.S. jump racing in 2009 and has been a prominent rider since then.
WILLIE McCARTHY
Birthdate: June 2, 1983. Home: Camden, S.C. Champion: 2014. Earnings Leader: 2014. 2015 record: 70-8-8-9, $328,550. 2014 record: 91-23-15-13, $735,400. Coming back from broken arm at International Gold Cup. Rode Lune de Caro to win optional allowance hurdle at Saratoga. Took 2014 jockey titles by wins and earnings by wide margins. Rode eventual novice champion All the Way Jose for Foxbrook Champion Hurdle score at Far Hills. Capped the 2014 spring season with three wins at the Iroquois Steeplechase in Nashville, including a victory aboard 2013 champion Divine Fortune in the Calvin Houghland Iroquois (Gr. 1). Also rode timber champion Hot Rize in the Virginia Gold Cup. From a racing family and was riding in Irish point-to-points at 17. Had amateur wins in England and Ireland before turning professional in 2005. Notched his first win as a pro aboard Toulouse Lautrec at Plumpton Racecourse.
DARREN NAGLE
Birthdate: Aug. 27, 1987. Home: West Grove, Pa. 2015 record: 77-12-7-10, $420,000. 2014 record: 24-5-2-3, $228,450. Hit a late-season hot streak in 2015 and scored eight victories in the fall season. Native of Ireland came back strongly from a broken leg sustained in a training accident in early 2014. Won the 2014 Marion du Pont Scott Colonial Cup (Gr. 1) aboard Bill Pape’s Divine Fortune. Also won Saratoga’s Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords Stakes on Brilliant Match. Rode Divine Fortune to 2013 Grand National (Gr. 1) win to clinch Eclipse Award. Began riding in the U.S. in 2005 and scored his first win aboard Run Up the Flag at the Middleburg Spring Races. Scored his first major win in the 2008 My Lady’s Manor aboard Hot Springs.
ROBBIE WALSH
Birthdate: April 2, 1976. Home: Lincoln University, Pa. 2015 record: 37-1-3-5, $87,300. 2014 record: 59-8-10-1, $544,075. His 2015 season was compromised by two significant injuries. Rode Demonstrative to Eclipse Award in 2014 with wins in Saratoga’s New York Turf Writers Cup (Gr. 1), Belmont Park’s Lonesome Glory Handicap (Gr. 1), and Grand National (Gr. 1) at Far Hills, N.J. Ranked second by jockey earnings in 2014. Rides primarily for Richard Valentine. Was the regular exercise rider for Main Sequence, winner of two 2014 Eclipse Awards. Father of two with wife, Carmel. Won first race aboard Our Weathercock in Ireland in 1998. Won first American race aboard Hero’s Tour at Willowdale, Pa., in 2002.
PADDY YOUNG
Birthdate: Feb. 12, 1976. Home: Unionville, Pa. Champion: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015. Earnings Leader: 2010, 2011, 2013. 2015 record: 84-24-14-17, $608,200. 2014 record: 78-14-13-15, $476,200. Went on a hot streak in late spring and won his fifth riding championship by a wide margin. Also was a close second by 2015 earnings. Won Saratoga’s 2015 A. P. Smithwick Memorial (Gr. 1) aboard longshot Choral Society for trainer Jack Fisher. Also rode female champion Ivy Mills for Fisher. For his wife, trainer Leslie Young, rode Bittersweetheart to the 2014 female championship with wins in Iroquois Steeplechase’s Margaret Currey Henley and Far Hills’ Peapack Stakes. Had three 2014 Saratoga wins for Fisher. His fourth title by wins and third by earnings in 2013 marked his comeback from a broken arm early in 2012. Father of three won his first U.S. race aboard Indispensable at Shawan Downs in 2003.