Cigar, was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1995 and 1996 American Horse of the Year. He was the first American racehorse racing against top-class competition to win 16 consecutive races since Triple Crown winner Citation did so between 1948 and 1950. His major wins included the 1995 Breeders' Cup Classic, the NYRA Mile, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Woodward Stakes (twice), Oaklawn Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup, Donn Handicap (twice) and the first running of the Dubai World Cup. He became the leading money earner in racing history and was later inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
Michael Earl Smith 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 most Breeders' Cup races of any jockey with 27 victories. Smith is also the third leading jockey of all time in earnings with over $336 million. In 2018, Smith rode Justify to the Triple Crown, becoming the oldest jockey to win the title at age 52.
Patrick Alan "Pat" Day 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 and the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. Day won nine Triple Crown races and 12 Breeders' Cup races. He was once the leader for career Breeders' Cup wins though he was later surpassed as the events were expanded after he retired.
Robby J. Albarado 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 professional, he earned his first official win at Evangeline Downs in 1990. Since then, he has won more than 5,000 races, but his career has endured setbacks as a result of serious injuries. During 1998 and 1999, he suffered two skull fractures, one of which required doctors to replace a damaged portion of his skull with titanium mesh and polymer plate. Another serious accident in the fall of 2000 kept him out of racing for the better part of 2001.
Saint Liam was an American thoroughbred racehorse who was voted 2005 Eclipse Award Horse of the Year honors after winning the Donn Handicap, Stephen Foster, Woodward Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic. He died in 2006 due to a freak accident, leaving behind a single crop of foals that included Horse of the Year Havre de Grace.
Lil E. Tee was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1992 scored one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Kentucky Derby.
The Azeri Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares that are four years old or older, over a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt track held annually in March at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The event currently carries a purse of $400,000.
The 2004 Kentucky Derby was the 130th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 1, 2004, and was won by Smarty Jones, who earned a $5 million bonus. There were 140,054 in attendance.
Blame is a retired American champion Thoroughbred racehorse, a winner of nine races in 13 starts including the prestigious Breeders' Cup Classic.
Corey James Lanerie is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. Based in Kentucky, he has won 19 jockey titles at Churchill Downs and has won meets at Ellis Park, Lone Star Park, Sam Houston and Retama Park.
Creator is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse, best known as the winner of the 2016 Belmont Stakes and Arkansas Derby.
Irad Ortiz Jr. is a Puerto Rican jockey who has been a leading rider in the New York Thoroughbred horse racing circuit since 2012. He won his first Breeders' Cup race on Lady Eli in 2014, and his first American Classic on Creator in the 2016 Belmont Stakes. He won the 2022 Belmont Stakes on Mo Donegal.
Mitole is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse who was foaled and raised at Hermitage Farm in Oldham County, Kentucky. He was named the American Champion Male Sprint Horse of 2019 after winning six of seven starts that year including the Churchill Downs Stakes, Metropolitan Handicap, Forego Stakes, and Breeders' Cup Sprint.
Improbable was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 2020 Champion Older Dirt Male after winning three Grade One races; the Hollywood Gold Cup, Whitney Stakes, and Awesome Again Stakes. He also came second in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Classic, won the 2018 Los Alamitos Futurity, and came fourth in the 2019 Kentucky Derby as the favorite.
Luis Contreras is a Mexican jockey since 2006. After starting his career in Mexico, Contreras started competing in the United States and Canada during the late 2000s. For his graded stakes race career, Contreras has won thirty six Grade III races, twenty two Grade II races and four Grade I races. At the 2011 Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, Contreras won the Queen's Plate, Prince of Wales Stakes, and Breeders' Stakes. He became the first jockey to use two horses to win the Canadian Triple Crown. In 2014, Contreras came short of another Canadian Triple Crown after finishing tenth at the Breeders' Stakes following wins at the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales.
Drayden Van Dyke is a jockey in thoroughbred racing. At graded stakes races, Van Dyke has won 67 events ranging from Grade I to Grade III. Of these wins, Van Dyke has won both the Starlet Stakes and Yellow Ribbon Handicap four times. As a Breeders' Cup jockey, Van Dyke won the Turf Sprint event at the 2018 Breeders' Cup. He was also runner-up at the Breeders' Cup Mile event in 2018 and the Dirt Mile at the 2021 Breeders' Cup.
Whitmore is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2020 Breeders' Cup Sprint and was named the 2020 American Champion Sprinter at age seven. His other major wins included the 2017 Phoenix Stakes and 2018 Forego Stakes. He was also known for his winning record at Oaklawn Park, where he won the Hot Springs Stakes four times in a row and the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap three times. His career earnings were over $4.5 million.
Luis Saez in Panama City, Panama) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. Saez rode Maximum Security to finish first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby but was subsequently disqualified due to interference. The two later won the world's richest race, the $20,000,000 Saudi Cup, in 2020. Saez won his first Breeders' Cup race in 2020 and first American Classic in 2021, both with champion Essential Quality.
Knicks Go is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 2021 American Horse of the Year after winning five of seven starts, including the Breeders' Cup Classic, Whitney Stakes and Pegasus World Cup. The year before he won the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. He is the sixth horse to win two different Breeders' Cup races.
David Cohen is an American jockey. He won the 2018 Comeback Jockey of the Year Award, and was the 2019 Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort Champion Jockey. In 2022, he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. As of March 20, 2024, he had 1,644 career wins, and earnings of $65 million.
