Craig Perret (born February 2, 1951, in
New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major U.S. port and the largest city in the state of Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, the largest metro area in the state....
) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
thoroughbred horse racingThoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide 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...
jockeyIn sport, a jockey is one who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing; however, camel jockey profession is slowly being replaced by robotics.-Horse racing:...
. He began riding horses at age five and by seven was riding
quarter horsesThe American Quarter Horse is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name came from its ability to outdistance other breeds of horses in races of a quarter mile or less, where some individuals have been clocked at speeds up to 55 mph...
in
match raceA match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.The term may be best known as a regatta for two sailing boats racing around a course...
s. At age fifteen he began his career in thoroughbred racing and in 1967 was the leading apprentice jockey in the United States in terms of money won.
In 1987 Perret rode
Bet TwiceBet Twice was a multi-millionaire American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. Foaled in Kentucky, he was sired by Sportin' Life, who in turn was the son of the great stallion and British Triple Crown champion, Nijinsky, out of the mare, Golden Dust. He was bred by William S. Farish III and E. J...
to victory in the
Belmont StakesThe Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The race is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown, following five weeks after the Kentucky Derby, and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes...
. In 1990, aboard
UnbridledUnbridled was a Champion American thoroughbred racehorse.The colt was sired by Fappiano , by Mr. Prospector, and his dam Gana Facil, by Le Fabuleux. Unbridled retired with a career record of 8 wins, 6 places and 6 shows in 24 starts, and $4,489,475 in career earnings...
, he won America's most prestigious race, the
Kentucky DerbyThe Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter miles at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ...
, and in 1993-94 won back-to-back
Queen's PlateThe Queen's Plate is North America's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each June at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...
s,
Canada'sCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
most prestigious race.
Craig Perret (born February 2, 1951, in
New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major U.S. port and the largest city in the state of Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area, the largest metro area in the state....
) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
thoroughbred horse racingThoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide 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...
jockeyIn sport, a jockey is one who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing; however, camel jockey profession is slowly being replaced by robotics.-Horse racing:...
. He began riding horses at age five and by seven was riding
quarter horsesThe American Quarter Horse is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name came from its ability to outdistance other breeds of horses in races of a quarter mile or less, where some individuals have been clocked at speeds up to 55 mph...
in
match raceA match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.The term may be best known as a regatta for two sailing boats racing around a course...
s. At age fifteen he began his career in thoroughbred racing and in 1967 was the leading apprentice jockey in the United States in terms of money won.
In 1987 Perret rode
Bet TwiceBet Twice was a multi-millionaire American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. Foaled in Kentucky, he was sired by Sportin' Life, who in turn was the son of the great stallion and British Triple Crown champion, Nijinsky, out of the mare, Golden Dust. He was bred by William S. Farish III and E. J...
to victory in the
Belmont StakesThe Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The race is the third and final leg of the Triple Crown, following five weeks after the Kentucky Derby, and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes...
. In 1990, aboard
UnbridledUnbridled was a Champion American thoroughbred racehorse.The colt was sired by Fappiano , by Mr. Prospector, and his dam Gana Facil, by Le Fabuleux. Unbridled retired with a career record of 8 wins, 6 places and 6 shows in 24 starts, and $4,489,475 in career earnings...
, he won America's most prestigious race, the
Kentucky DerbyThe Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter miles at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ...
, and in 1993-94 won back-to-back
Queen's PlateThe Queen's Plate is North America's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each June at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...
s,
Canada'sCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
most prestigious race. In addition, Perret won the
Breeders' Cup SprintThe Breeders' Cup Sprint is an American Weight for Age Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for three year olds & up. Run on dirt over a distance of 6 Furlongs , the race has been held annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup.- Automatic...
in 1984 and 1990; the
Breeders' Cup JuvenileThe Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup....
in 1989; and the
Breeders' Cup Juvenile FilliesThe Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a 1 1/16-mile thoroughbred horse race on dirt for two-year-old fillies run annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup.- Automatic Births :Beginning in 2007, the Breeders' Cup developed "The...
in 1996. Of his more than 4,400 career victories to date, he has also had major stakes race wins including the
Florida DerbyThe Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida on the Saturday closest to the end of March or the first of April. Added to the racing schedule in 1952, the Grade 1 race is run at 1⅛ miles on the dirt...
,
Acorn StakesThe Acorn Stakes is an American Grade I race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies. It is raced on dirt over a distance of one mile with a current purse of $250,000. There was a dead heat for first place in 1954 and again in 1956.The Acorn Stakes was run at...
,
Pimlico SpecialThe Pimlico Special is an American Grade I thoroughbred horse race held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland in mid May. It is raced on dirt over a distance of 1
³/
16 miles...
,
Travers StakesThe Travers Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.First held in 1864, it was named for William R. Travers, the president of the old Saratoga Racing Association. His horse, Kentucky, won the first running of the Travers...
,
Haskell Invitational HandicapThe Haskell Invitational Handicap is an American Grade I race for thoroughbred horses. In 1968, the Board of Directors of Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey honored its former President and Chairman Amory L. Haskell with the Amory L. Haskell Handicap, a race for older horses...
and the
Wood Memorial StakesThe Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica, New York is an American horse race first run in 1925. It was named to honor Eugene D...
.
He has earned a number of other accolades including the 1990
Eclipse Award for Outstanding JockeyThe Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey is an American thoroughbred horse racing honor for jockeys first awarded in 1971. Part of the Eclipse Awards program, it is awarded annually....
of the year, and in 1998 his peers voted him the
George Woolf Memorial Jockey AwardThe 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 conduct, on and off the racetrack.The award was created...
.
Craig Perret and his family live on a farm in
ShelbyvilleShelbyville is a city in Shelby County, Kentucky, United States. It was founded on land donated by William Shannon in 1792 and named for Kentucky's first governor, Isaac Shelby. The population was 10,085 at the 2000 census...
,
KentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. Kentucky is a Southern state situated in the Upland South, although the state is infrequently placed, geographically and culturally, in the Midwest. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a...
and operate a small thoroughbred
breedingHorse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. While feral and wild horses breed successfully without human assistance, planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired...
operation.
In 2006, Craig Perret inducted in the
Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame- Inductees :Official Hall of Fame Portraits created by Chris Brown 2009-present...
and was nominated for induction in the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of FameThe National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
.