ENGLISH VERSION wins at Churchill Downs on June 9, 2024
• 2 Kentucky Oaks: 2019, 2026
• 1 Kentucky Derby: 2026( Golden Tempo)
THE CLUB OF NINE
The nine jockeys to have completed the Kentucky Oaks / Kentucky Derby double in the same year.
1884 Isaac Murphy 1933 Don Meade 1950 Bill Boland 1952 Eddie Arcaro 1966 Don Brumfield 1993 Jerry Bailey 2009 Calvin Borel 2024 Brian Hernandez 2026 José Ortiz
Julien Leparoux Receives the George Woolf Award The adventure was supposed to last 18 months. His stint as an exercise rider for Patrick Biancone would eventually take a very different direction. Two decades later, Julien Leparoux, who had never ridden a single race in France, is receiving one of the most coveted honours in American racing. The George Woolf Memorial Award is unlike any other distinction, as it represents recognition from fellow jockeys themselves. It was at Keeneland, his favourite racecourse, that we met the rider before he flew to California to receive his award. It was also an opportunity to ask his colleagues what motivated their vote.
A Made in USA jockey? Santa Anita Racecourse, which has awarded the trophy since 1950 in partnership with the Jockeys’ Guild, was where young Julien first arrived in 2003. He still remembers the long flight to Los Angeles. He was 19 years old at the time and had 12 hours ahead of him to wonder whether he was making the right decision. Two years later, Patrick Biancone gave him his race-riding debut. It was a meteoric beginning, crowned by the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in 2006. That year, he rode 403 winners, more than any apprentice or professional rider. Among his victories in 2006 was his first Group 1 success, the Beverly D. Stakes aboard Gorella. The filly had started her career in France with Jean de Roualle, a trainer Julien knew well, as his father Robert Leparoux had worked for him for many years as a travelling head lad after having previously ridden over jumps. Although Robert was unable to see his son become a jockey, he gave him the tools to endure in a difficult profession: perspective, clarity and humility. Julien Leparoux has built a career that is 100 % Made in USA, while never turning his back on his Chantilly and Breton roots. He remains an unconditional supporter of Paris Saint-Germain. An American citizen since 2018, he lives in Louisville, Kentucky, close to Churchill Downs, where he recorded his 3,000 th career victory in
November 2024. According to him, Tepin remains one of the greatest memories of his career. Together they won the Breeders’ Cup Mile before going on to score at Royal Ascot in the Queen Anne Stakes and in Canada in the Woodbine Mile.“ I hope one day I’ ll find another one like her,” he says. Now approaching his 43 rd birthday, Julien Leparoux serves as Vice President and Treasurer of the Jockeys’ Guild. He has put to good use the management studies his parents encouraged him to pursue. Today he combines a strong sense of responsibility with a clear priority given to family life. A quiet strength that his colleagues unanimously recognise:“ Julien is pure class.”
STATISTICS
• 12 Leading Rider titles at Keeneland
• 9 Leading Rider titles at Churchill Downs
• Record holder for turf wins at Churchill Downs
• 2 Eclipse Awards( 2006 Outstanding Apprentice – 2009 Outstanding Jockey)
• 7 Breeders’ Cup victories
• 247 Group race victories, including 67 at Keeneland
A Spring of Ups and Downs for Chad Brown Chad Brown began the Keeneland meeting in style. The trainer reached the milestone of 3,000 career victories there thanks to Zulu Kingdom in the Maker’ s Mark Mile( Gr. 1). The four-year-old, partnered by Flavien Prat,
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