Willie Martinez (born March 3, 1971) 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 ...

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

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 ...

. Martinez is known in the business as "Chillie Willie," because of his "chill" demeanor in riding.

Background

Martinez was born in

Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico Santurce (, from the Basque ''Santurtzi'' which means Saint George) is a barrio or district in the municipality of San Juan. Its population in 2020 was 69,469. It is also the biggest and most populated of all the barrios in the capital city wi ...

, but emigrated to the United States in 1988 to work as a hotwalker and groom for his sister's godfather at

Finger Lakes Race Track Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack is a thoroughbred horse-racing track and casino located in Farmington in western New York State, approximately southeast of Rochester. The facility is about one mile south of New York State Thruway exit 44. His ...

Farmington, New York Farmington is a town located in the northern part of Ontario County, New York, United States. The population was 14,275 at the 2020 census. History Farmington was part of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. The town was formed along with its count ...

Riding career

Mrtinez began riding professionally in 1989 and got his first win that year at

Tampa Bay Downs Tampa Bay Downs is an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility located in Westchase in Hillsborough County in the U.S. state of Florida, just outside Tampa. It opened in 1926 under the name Tampa Downs, and has also been known as Sunshine Pa ...

. In 1997, at

Woodbine Racetrack Woodbine Racetrack is a race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group, Woodbine Racetrack manages and hosts Canada's most famous race, the King's Plate. The track ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, he rode

Cryptocloser {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Cryptocloser , image = , caption = , sire = Cryptoclearance , grandsire = Fappiano , dam = Cuddle Up Closer , damsire = Vice Regent , sex = Stallion , foaled = 1994 , country = Canada , colour = B ...

to victory in the

Prince of Wales Stakes The Prince of Wales Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario. Restricted to only three-year-old horses bred in Canada, it is contested on dirt over a distance of miles (1.9 km; ...

, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown series. During his career, Martinez has won riding titles at:

Ellis Park Racecourse Ellis Park is a thoroughbred racetrack near Henderson, Kentucky, just south of Evansville, Indiana. It is owned and operated by Churchill Downs Incorporated. While the track is located north of the Ohio River that forms the border between Kentuc ...

Turfway Park Turfway Park is an American horse racing track located within the city limits of Florence, Kentucky, about south of the Ohio River at Cincinnati. The track conducts live Thoroughbred horse racing during two meets each year—Holiday (December), ...

Keeneland Race Course 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 its ...

and

Hialeah Park The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida, Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenu ...

. His nine titles at Turfway Park in

Florence, Kentucky Florence is a home rule-class city in Boone County, Kentucky, United States. Florence is the second largest city located in Northern Kentucky, after Covington, and part of the Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan Area. The population was 31,946 at ...

is more than any other jockey in the track's history. At the same track, he also rode seven winners on July 6, 1993. From 1992 through 2007, Martinez – along with William Henry – held the jockey's record at Tampa Bay Downs for the most wins in a single season with 123 victories to his credit. He also won 36 stakes races at the track, second only to

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 an ...

as the track's all-time stakes leader. At Ellis Park Martinez rode seven winners on July 6, 1993. Through March 2022 Martinez had more than 3,500 career wins, purse earnings nearing $83 million, and 150 stakes wins. Among his 38 graded stakes wins are the 2006 New Orleans Handicap (G2) and Donn Handicap (G1) with Brass Hat, and the 2012

Breeders' Cup Sprint The Breeders' Cup Sprint is an American Weight for Age Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older. Run on dirt Corrected grade for Santa Anita sprintover a distance of 6 Furlongs ( mile), the race has been held annually si ...

with Trinniberg. He also has one Group I win, the 1998 Prince of Wales Stakes. Martinez celebrated a banner day at Turfway Park when he won three of the five Kentucky Cup races in 2006: the

Classic A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...

(G2) with Ball Four, the Kentucky Cup Distaff Stakes (G3) with Beautiful Bets, and the Juvenile Fillies with Cohiba Miss. Martinez also partakes in helping bring awareness to the sport regarding issues such as jockey rights. Matters on the constant lapses over health insurance, and weight increase tolerance in the tracks (to just name a few). Martinez alongside other professional riders were interviewed for an HBO documentary ''Jockey: America Undercover'', series back in 2004 for their opinion on the sport and its tolerance in supporting unhealthy lifestyles for jockeys to benefit horses performances during a race. Martinez is best known as the jockey of

Brass Hat {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Brass Hat , image = , caption = Brass Hat in the Suffolk Downs paddock before the start of the 2007 Massachusetts Handicap , sire = Prized , grandsire = Kris S. , dam = Brassy , damsire = Dixie Brass , ...

which his big break came in 2006. He rode the

gelding A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...

to victory in several important

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 ...

s, including the Grade 1

Donn Handicap The Donn Handicap was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually from 1959 through 2016 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. A race for horses age four and older, it was contested on turf from inception through 1964 at a distance ...

, and on July 8, 2007 broke a 36-year-old track record for 1 1/16 miles 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 ...

, stopping the clock at 1:41.27. He also rode

to a second-place finish in the

Dubai World Cup The Dubai World Cup (Arabic: كأس دبي العالمي) is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and contested at the Meydan Racecourse (Arabic: ميدان) which in Arabic suggests a place wher ...

, although the horse was later disqualified for a medication violation. Martinez logged several graded stakes victories aboard Trinniberg in 2012, including the Woody Stephens Stakes,

Swale Stakes The Swale Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three year old horses at the distance of seven furlongs on the dirt held annually in January at Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach, Florida. The event currently carries a purse ...

, and the

. Trinniberg went on to win the

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...

for male sprinter that year. On May 1, 2010, Martinez rode Noble's Promise to a 5th-place finish 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 ...

Year-end charts

References

Willie Martinez at the NTRA

July 10, 2007 Bloodhorse.com article titled ''Brass Hat Sets Churchill Track Mark in Return''

Kentucky Derby Week: Kentucky Oaks

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Willie 1971 births American jockeys American people of Puerto Rican descent Puerto Rican jockeys Living people People from Santurce, Puerto Rico People from Farmington, New York