Breeders’ Cup Notes
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The 20th Bill Shoemaker Award will be given this weekend to the most outstanding jockey of the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland that begin Friday afternoon.
Won the past four years by Irad Ortiz Jr., who has 14 mounts this weekend including four morning line favorites, the Shoemaker Award will go to the jockey who rides the most winners in the 14 Championship races. Should there be a tie among two or more riders with the most victories, the deadlock will be broken on a 10-3-1 point system for second through fourth-place finishes.
The Shoemaker Award is named in honor of one of the greatest jockeys in the history of Thoroughbred racing. Shoemaker, who captured the Kentucky Derby four times, won 8,833 races in a career that spanned more than 40 years. In 1987, at age 56, Shoemaker won the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) aboard Ferdinand at Hollywood Park.
