Corey James Lanerie (born November 13, 1974) is a

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 ...

in American

Thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in t ...

. Based in Kentucky, he has been the leading rider at

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was ...

, having won the most races during a race meet, 10 times. He has also been named the leading rider at Ellis Park,

Lone Star Park Lone Star Park is a horse racing track and entertainment destination located mile north of Interstate 30 on Belt Line Road in Grand Prairie, Texas. Lone Star Park has two live racing seasons every year; the spring Thoroughbred season generally ...

Sam Houston Race Park Sam Houston Race Park is a horse racing track located in unincorporated northwest Houston, Texas, United States. The park hosts both Thoroughbred and American Quarter Horse racing each year. The track strives to be a multi-purpose venue, hosting ...

and

Retama Park Retama Park is a class 1 pari-mutuel horse racetrack located in Selma, Texas, United States, that opened in 1995. Live quarter horse races meet June to August and live thoroughbred races meet September to November. Simulcast racing is shown year ...

. Lanerie was born in

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

. His father had been a jockey before becoming a

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...

, and Lanerie's grandfather also was a trainer. When Lanerie was nine years old, he began exercising race horses. He learned race riding at a farm near

Opelousas :''Opelousas is also a common name of the flathead catfish.'' Opelousas (french: Les Opélousas; Spanish: ''Los Opeluzás'') is a small city and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190 were ...

and started his jockey career at small unrecognized tracks. He began to ride professionally in 1991, and won his first race on April 19 of that year at

Evangeline Downs Evangeline Downs Racetrack & Casino is a racetrack in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, just east of Opelousas. It is owned and operated by Boyd Gaming. With a one-mile oval track, the facility provides close to 1,000 horse stalls for Thoroughbred f ...

on a horse named High Hopes Banquet. He won his first stakes race the following year in the Black Gold Stakes at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, Louisiana. Lanerie's first

graded stakes race A graded stakes race is a thoroughbred horse race in the United States that meets the criteria of the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). A specific grade level (I, II, III or listed) is then ...

win was the

Razorback Handicap The Razorback Handicap is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for four-year-olds and older at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt run annually in February at Oaklawn Park Race Track in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The event c ...

Oaklawn Park Oaklawn Plantation may refer to: * Oaklawn (Huntsville, Alabama), listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) * Oaklawn Plantation (Leon County, Florida) *Oaklawn Plantation (Natchez, Louisiana) The Oaklawn Plantation is a historic ...

in 1999. Lanerie falls within a tradition of "

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

" jockeys who developed their riding skills in their home state prior to achieving success at major tracks, and follows in the footsteps of other Louisiana natives such as Calvin Borel,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

, each of whom was inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Lanerie won the

George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional condu ...

in 2014, an honor bestowed upon him by a vote of his fellow jockeys. He is noted for being respected and well-liked by his peers. Lanerie once said, "I know Churchill better than anybody." But in spite of his success at Churchill Downs, Lanerie has only ridden three times in the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

: on Harry's Holiday in 2014, finishing 16th, Mo Tom in 2016, finishing eighthhttp://www.equibase.com/premium/chartEmb.cfm?track=CD&raceDate=05/07/2016&cy=USA&rn=12 and a second-place finish on Looking at Lee in 2017, his best result to date. He also hit the board in three

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, ...

races in 2015 when the meet was held at

Keeneland Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for it ...

, placing second in the

Breeders' Cup Marathon The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes, is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and up, and contested on dirt at usually at a distance of miles. The race has a purse of US$350,000. It is run as part of the underca ...

and third in both the

Breeders' Cup Juvenile The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually in late October or early November at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup ...

and

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a -mile thoroughbred horse race on dirt (although the distance has varied, depending on the configuration of the host track) for two-year-old fillies run annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the Uni ...

. His home base is in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, where he lives with his daughter. His wife, Shantel, died on June 22, 2018.

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanarie, Corey 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Lafayette, Louisiana Jockeys from Louisville, Kentucky American jockeys Cajun jockeys