Bush track is a term used in
horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
to describe unsanctioned, informal horse races run in rural areas of the United States and southern Canada.
Quarter horses
The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of a quarter mile or less; some have been clocked at ...
, ridden by amateur
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 ...
s, are raced on makeshift tracks, often set up in the field where the horses are pastured using barrels or other natural landmarks as the track interior. Race times are never kept and the track length is not uniform.
Some of these tracks are somewhat more formal, with names and a regular following (though seldom more than 1000 would show for a race). Races are often run with only two horses on a track with lanes. The state of
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
is notable for having produced top jockeys who got their start in this setting.
February 18, 1993 ''Ocala Star-Banner'' article on "Bayou Country" jockeys
/ref>
Jockeys who started in the bush tracks:[{{cite web
, url = http://uofl.info/Kentuckys-Street-Sense
, title = Street Sense the "local boy" wins the Kentucky Derby
, publisher = University of Louisville News and Forums
, location = USA
, accessdate = 2007-05-07
, archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071024161557/http://www.uofl.info/Kentuckys-Street-Sense#
, archive-date = 2007-10-24
, url-status = dead
]
*Robby Albarado
Robby J. Albarado (born September 11, 1973, in Lafayette, Louisiana) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding at the age of 10 and progressed to riding at bush tracks in his native Louisiana by the age of 12. After turning ...
*Ronald Ardoin
Ronald D. Ardoin (born June 13, 1957 in Carencro, Louisiana) is a retired jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He is one of a number of successful Cajun jockeys who began their careers riding in bush track races in Louisiana.
In 1973, at ...
*Calvin Borel
Calvin H. Borel (born November 7, 1966) is an American jockey in thoroughbred horse racing and rode the victorious mount in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, the 2009 Kentucky Derby and the 2010 Kentucky Derby. His 2009 Derby win with Mine That Bird was ...
*Ray Broussard
Raywood J. Broussard (August 11, 1937 - October 6, 1993) was an American jockey in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing.
"Ray" Broussard was born in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, home to many Acadians and an area that would produce a number ...
*Eddie Delahoussaye
Edward J. Delahoussaye (born September 21, 1951) is a retired American Thoroughbred jockey from New Iberia, Louisiana.
He began his career in 1968 and ten years later became the top American jockey with 384 wins. He has won the Kentucky Derby in ...
*Kent Desormeaux
Kent Jason Desormeaux (born February 27, 1970) is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year with 598 wins in 1989. He has won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes t ...
*Laverne Fator
Laverne Andrew Fator (October 21, 1899 – May 16, 1936) was an American Hall of Fame jockey.
Born in Hailey, Idaho, Laverne Fator and his brothers Mark and Elmer all became jockeys. The most successful of the three, Laverne Fator's riding ca ...
*Mark Fator
Lester Mark Fator (October 29, 1904 – January 16, 1952) was the 1922 American National Champion jockey in Thoroughbred racing.
Three brothers: three jockeys
The Fator brothers grew up in a small Idaho town and began their careers riding on We ...
*Eric Guerin
Oliver Eric Guerin (October 23, 1924 – March 21, 1993) was an American Hall of Fame jockey.
Eric Guerin was born in Maringouin, Louisiana, in Cajun backwater country, twenty-four miles west of Baton Rouge. He was the son of an impoverished C ...
*Mark Guidry
Mark Guidry (born August 6, 1959, in Lafayette, Louisiana) is a former American jockey. He ranks 22nd among jockeys in career wins with 5,222 wins as of March 7, 2014, the date of his last ride. He subsequently announced his retirement from ridi ...
*Craig Perret
Craig Perret (born February 2, 1951, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding horses at age five and by seven was riding quarter horses in match races. At age fifteen he began his career in thorou ...
*Red Pollard
John M. "Red" Pollard (October 27, 1909 – March 7, 1981) was a Canadian horse racing jockey. A founding member of the Jockeys' Guild in 1940, Pollard rode at racetracks in the United States and is best known for riding Seabiscuit.
Family ...
*Randy Romero
Randy Paul Romero (December 22, 1957 – August 29, 2019) was a National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame jockey in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing.
Born into a family involved with horses, his father Lloyd J. Romero was a ...
*Shane Sellers
Shane Jude Sellers (born September 24, 1966 in Erath, Louisiana) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. At age eleven, he began working around horses and in 1983 rode his first winner at Evangeline Downs.
Sellers won several national ...
* Carroll Shilling
*Joseph Talamo
Joseph "Joe" Talamo (born January 12, 1990 in Marrero, Louisiana) is a Champion jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.
Born and raised in Marrero on the West Bank of the Mississippi River, within the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan area, ...
* Jack Kaenel
References
Horse racing terminology