Laffit Pincay Breaks the Record - Horse Racing

Horse Racing

Filed In:

Horse Racing

Laffit Pincay Breaks the Record!

Pincay's Road to the Record
Phone Chatter with Pincay up in the 1993 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Courtesy of Maui Boy
Date	Mounts	Wins	Total	Wins Needed
11/28	1	1	8,823	10
11/27	7	0	8,823	11
11/26	3	1	8,823	11
11/25	No Racing		8,822	12
11/24	4	2	8,822	12
11/23	No Racing		8,820	14
11/22	No Racing		8,820	14
11/21	5	1	8,820	14
11/20	2	0	8,819	15
11/19	4	1	8,819	15
Stats Born: 12/29/46 in Panama City, Panama Height: 5'1" Weight: 117 lbs. Family: wife Jeanine, daughter Lisa, sons Laffit III and Jean-Laffit Through 11/19/99 Pincay had 8,814 wins and career earnings of $206,135,385 in 44,564 starts First win: 5/16/64 on Huelen in Panama First US win: 7/1/66 on Teacher's Art at Arlington Park Awards Elected to Racing Hall of Fame in 1975 Won the Eclipse Award as the leading jockey in 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, and 1985, more times than any other rider Won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1970 Won the Mike Venezia Memorial Award in 1996 Won the 1985 "Big Sport of Turfdom Award" given by the Turf Publicists of America Career Highlights Won the Kentucky Derby on Swale (1984) Three straight Belmont Stakes victories for trainer Woody Stephens with Conquistador Cielo (1982), Caveat (1983), and Swale (1984) All-time leading rider at both Santa Anita and Hollywood Park Has seven Breeders' Cup victories with Tasso (1985), Capote (1986), Skywalker (1986), Is It True (1988), Bayakoa (1989 and 1990), and Phone Chatter (1993) First jockey to ride winners of $190 million in purses Won 7 national earnings titles (1970-1975, 1979, 1985) Notable Mounts Affirmed, Althea, Bayakoa, Capote, Conquistado Cielo, Cougar II, Creme Fraiche, Diazo, Family Style, Forty Niner, Gate Dancer, Is It True, John Henry, Landaluce, Phone Chatter, Relaunch, Sham, Skywalker, Spend A Buck, Steinlen, Sunny's Halo, Swale, Tight Spot, Tri Jet

Dateline: 12/01/99

Today Laffit Pincay surpassed Bill Shoemaker's record for most career wins with a new record total of ????. This marked yet another important milestone in his long and stellar career and he still has no immediate plans to retire.

Pincay's parents divorced when he was a child and his father, also a jockey, moved to Venezuela to race. Laffit began working at the track as a hot-walker and groom at age 15 for no pay. In his spare time he learned to ride and got his jockey license when he was 17. He rode his first winner at Panama's Pesidente Remon Racetrack on only his second mount on May 16, 1964 and eventually became Panama's leading jockey.

In 1966, Fred Hooper sponsored him to come to the United States and ride for him under contract. He started out at Arlington Park in Chicago and won 8 of his first 11 races! He did so well he was elected to the Hall of Fame only 9 years later.

Plagued by weight problems his entire career, he tried all kinds of diets, pills, sweat box, etc. but finally seems to have found a regimen that works. His current diet is 850 calories a day. Fruit for breakfast, protein before going to the track, and a regular dinner at night. 350 of the calories are for dinner alone. He also goes to the gym daily to workout on the Stairmaster or treadmill plus lots of stretching exercises.

One famous story of his will power and eating is when D. Wayne Lukas saw him eat a single peanut on a cross country flight. One half at the beginning of the flight and the other half at the end. Pincay says he has done that many times as well as scraping all the salt off a cracker before eating it.

With dedication and self-discipline like this, is it any wonder he is now the winningest jockey of all time?