By Noah Joseph
With this Sunday, June 25, being the Leg Up Fund Day, a day where Canterbury Park and the fans support the jockeys, it seemed like the perfect time to write about the brave men and women who ride the racehorses, not just at Canterbury, but around the country.
The jockeys are the true warriors of the sports world. Their ability to guide to victory an animal that is over ten times their own weight is nothing short of incredible. The jockeys are small in stature, but big in dignity. The ability to ride horses in races several times a day over the course of a few days for nearly an entire year is amazing, considering what they have to go through. The struggle to make race weight, the risk of severe injury and other dangers, the sometimes not so friendly fans, and the fact that they are just like us with families and lives to live too.
The jockeys at Canterbury are some of the best and kindest in the country. Not only do they all have amazing skills and abilities in riding, but what they do for the fans is very special. From high-fives and pictures to autographs and giving goggles to younger fans, they go out of their way more than, in my opinion, any other jockey colony in America. I started coming to Canterbury when I was three years old, and I got to experience all of that, which really inspired me to go deeper into racing, and in a way led to why I’m writing this article. All of this happened when I was a little kid, and now that I’m an adult and I see kids doing the same things that I used to do, it is a true pleasure because while the sport will change, the fans will remain and new fans will be made.
So if you’re at the track on Sunday and having a drink of any kind, raise your drink in a toast to the jockeys, who help make our sport so wonderful. And don’t forget to make a bid in the silent auction, buy a raffle ticket, sponsor a jockey using this form, or simply drop a few bucks in one of the collection bins around the track on Sunday.
Noah Joseph is a longtime Canterbury Park and horse racing fan. He’s been attending races at Canterbury since 2000 when he was 3 years old and has enjoyed every minute of it. Noah provides a weekly piece on CanterburyLive.com.
