How Much Money Do Jockeys Make?

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How much a jockey makes for different horse races will depend on whether or not the jockey wins the race. Generally, jockeys get paid a small, flat fee for racing and a percentage of the winning purse. Discover the average percentage paid to jockeys for winning a horse race with information from a former professional jockey in this free video on jockeys.

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Posted By Bonnie Gerdes
on August 27, 2009, 6:29 am

This is soooooo true and we have racehorses. The jockeys and the shoers at the track (and probably the gate crew) are the most dangerous jobs and have to work hard to earn money. The BIG jockeys do well but the daily grind guys don't earn a whole lot for that hard work.
We are jockey fans!

Comment By Kim Verge
on September 16, 2009, 12:46 am

just wondering.. how do you become a jockey in Canada... I really want to race horses.. I am natrually light.. I have never wieghed over 100 pounds. I am not too short 5'4". I also have lots of experience with horses as i've been riding since i could walk and am now training horses. Do I have a chance at being a jockey? What do I do to achieve this dream?

Comment By Maddy Johnson
on October 3, 2009, 11:29 am

well first you need to get your apprentice license and work from there. I don't know the regulations in Canada but you half to win 100 rides in the U.S to get your regular jockeys license. (I think)

Comment By Nicole Felts
on January 26, 2010, 10:53 pm

Kim Verge, you are so lucky!! I admire you! :)

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Video Transcript

People always wonder what kind of money do jockeys make. And I think there's a big misconception on how much money jockeys do make. Initially people think that there's a lot of money for jockeys, like in most sports, football players, baseball players, there's a significant amount of money that some of these players are making. But jockeys, that's not really quite true. I myself, I've won sixteen hundred and eighty races, and my purse earnings were forty four million dollars. Though that sounds really impressive, that forty four million dollars isn't exactly what I made as a jockey. What that means is all the purse earnings that the horses that I've ridden had earned. So, that is a pool of money that really wasn't mine, I got only a very small percentage of that money. The way jockeys are paid, is they're paid a flat fee for riding a race in general. That flat fee could be by the time the smoke clears could be maybe a measly twenty to thirty dollars for going out and risking their life. The way a jockey makes any money, is to win. When you win, you get a percentage of the purse, or percentage of what the owners make. And I'll give you an example. If a purse was ten thousand dollars, and the horse wins that race, the winning owner will get sixty percent of that ten thousand dollars. Sixty percent of that ten thousand dollars is six thousand dollars. The jockey will get ten percent of that six thousand dollars. So the jockey makes six hundred dollars for winning that race. Now the jockey that finished fourth, probably got about thirty bucks. The jockey that finished second gets a little bit higher, might have gotten about one hundred and twenty five dollars out of that. But there's a significant difference between finishing first, second, and then fourth of course. So, the name of the game is you've got to win and that's how that's where jockeys can make some money and be successful.

About The Author

Expert: Frankie Lovato

Specialty: Horseracing/Jockey

Frankie Lovato's impressive racing career spanned 25 years from 1979-2004. He rode in 15,603 races with 1,686 wins and was the 1980 Eclipse Award Winn

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