Mike Venezia Memorial Award is an 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 ...

honor given annually by the

New York Racing Association The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) is the not-for-profit corporation that operates the three largest Thoroughbred horse racing tracks in the state of New York, United States: Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens; Belmont Park i ...

to honor a jockey who exemplifies extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship. The award was created in 1989 to honor the memory of jockey Mike Venezia, who was killed in a racing accident in October, 1988 at Belmont Park. The award is determined by voting from jockeys, turf writers and racing fans. The winner is announced in July of each year and at a ceremony held in the fall, each recipient receives a 13-inch

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with a title that reads, "''The Jockey, A Champion''."

Recipients

* 1989 : Mike Venezia (''

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

'') * 1990 :

Bill Shoemaker William Lee Shoemaker (August 19, 1931 – October 12, 2003) was an American jockey. For 29 years he held the world record for total professional jockey victories. Early life Referred to as "Bill", "Willie," and "The Shoe", William Lee Sho ...

* 1991 :

Chris McCarron Christopher John McCarron (born March 27, 1955, Boston, Massachusetts) is a retired American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey. He mounted his first horse ever at 16.5 years old and was racing professionally by 18. At only 19 years o ...

* 1992 : Ángel Cordero Jr. * 1993 :

Jerry Bailey Jerry D. Bailey (born August 29, 1957 in Dallas, Texas) is an NBC Sports thoroughbred racing analyst and a retired American Hall of Fame jockey. Early years Bailey was born in Dallas but raised in El Paso. He had a pony as a child and became ...

* 1994 :

Mike E. Smith Michael Earl Smith (born August 10, 1965) is an American jockey who has been one of the leading riders in U.S. Thoroughbred racing since the early 1990s, was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2003, and has won the ...

* 1995 :

Pat Day Patrick Alan "Pat" Day (born October 13, 1953, in Brush, Colorado) is a retired American jockey. He is a four-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1991 a ...

* 1996 : Laffit Pincay Jr. * 1997 :

Robbie Davis Robbie Glen Davis (born July 18, 1961 in Pocatello, Idaho) is a retired American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Early life Davis grew up in a single parent household forced onto welfare, something that would impact him for the rest of his l ...

* 1998 :

Eddie Maple Edward Retz "Eddie" Maple (born November 8, 1948, in Carrollton, Ohio) is a retired American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. One of eight siblings, he is an older brother to jockey Sam Maple, who won more than 2,500 races. Maple began riding h ...

* 1999 : Gary Stevens * 2000 : Jorge F. Chavez * 2001 : Mike Luzzi * 2002 :

Dean Kutz Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

* 2003 :

Richard Migliore Richard Migliore (born March 14, 1964 in Babylon, New York) is a retired American jockey. He now works as a racing analyst for XBTV. He was nicknamed "The Mig," which is a type of Russian fighter jet, for his tenacious style of riding. He lives ...

* 2004 : Patti Cooksey * 2005 : No award given * 2006 :

Edgar Prado Edgar S. Prado (Lima, June 12, 1967) is a Peruvian-born American jockey, a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey in thoroughbred horse racing. His big break came in 1997 when he won 536 races, making him the fourth rider in history to win 500 races ...

* 2007–2012 : No award given * 2013 :

Ramon Domínguez Ramón A. Domínguez (born November 24, 1976 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a retired Eclipse Award-winning champion jockey and Hall of Fame member in American thoroughbred horse racing. Domínguez began riding horses at age 16 in his native Venezuela ...

* 2014 :

John Velazquez John R. Velazquez (born November 24, 1971) is a Puerto Rican jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. He began his career in Puerto Rico and moved to New York in 1990. In 2004 and 2005 he was the United States Champion Jockey by earnings and both ye ...

* 2015 :

Jon Court Jon Kenton Court (born November 26, 1960 in Gainesville, Florida) is an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. Having grown up in Florida, Jon Court began riding in Colorado at the now closed Centennial Park in 1980. He rode in Louisian ...

* 2016 :

Mario Pino Mario G. Pino (born September 8, 1961, in Wilmington, Delaware) is a retired jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. Raised on a farm, he began his riding career in 1978 at Delaware Park in Wilmington. Over the years, he has chosen to be ...

* 2017 : Kendrick Carmouche * 2018 : Joe Bravo * 2019 :

Javier Castellano Javier Castellano (born October 23, 1977, in Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. Castellano began his riding career in 1996 at Santa Rita and La Rinconada racecourses in Venezuela. In June 1997 ...

* 2021: DeShawn Parker * 2022: Julien Leparoux

References

{{Reflist Horse racing awards