Ry Eikleberry won the 2018 thoroughbred jockey title at Canterbury Park, a feat he also accomplished in 2014. Last season he won 87 races from 441 mounts, a healthy 20 percent clip. His mounts earned $1.714 million in purses, the third highest in Canterbury history. Ry has returned to Shakopee with his eye on another title.
The 5-foot-9-inch rider began racing at Arapahoe Park in suburban Denver when he was just 16-years-old and came to Canterbury a year later in 2006. Since then, he has had more than 13,000 career starts, riding both thoroughbred and quarter horses, and won more than 2,250 races.
He won the quarter horse title at Canterbury three times from 2008 through 2010.
Eikleberry also is a jockey on the New Mexico circuit in the fall, winter, and spring. After riding here opening night he flew there the next morning to ride Saturday and Sunday at Sunland Park.
The fourth-generation horseman grew up in Cave Creek, Arizona watching his father and grandfather raise and train racehorses. “I loved to spend my summers in the barn helping my dad and learning new things,” he said. He also enjoyed spending time at Turf Paradise where the family ran horses.
Ry met his future wife Jilique during his first year at Canterbury. The couple now has two daughters, Revy and Roan.
