Laffit Pincay Breaks the Record!
 Laffit Pincay at Del Mar Photo courtesy of Tina Hines | ||||
| Pincay's Road to the Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Mounts | Wins | Total | Wins Needed |
| 12/10 | 5 | 1 | 8,834 | 0 |
| 12/09 | 5 | 1 | 8,833 | 1 |
| 12/08 | 6 | 1 | 8,832 | 2 |
| 12/07 | No mounts | 8,831 | 3 | |
| 12/06 | No mounts | 8,831 | 3 | |
| 12/05 | 7 | 1 | 8,831 | 3 |
| 12/04 | 5 | 1 | 8,830 | 4 |
| 12/03 | 4 | 0 | 8,829 | 5 |
| 12/02 | 5 | 2 | 8,829 | 5 |
| 12/01 | 4 | 3 | 8,827 | 7 |
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
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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 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.
He has also shown tremendous courage against adversity in his personal life. Despite being devastated by the suicide of his first wife Linda in 1985, he was back at the track riding within two weeks. He said that he needed to stay busy to deal with the pain. Seven years later, he married again to Jeanine and they have a young son as well as his two children from his first marriage. His daughter, Lisa, recently gave him his first grandchild.
"There have been so many times I thought about quitting, I thought about giving up, but because of my love for the game, I kept hoping things would get better. And they did. I'm glad I didn't give up."
With dedication and self-discipline like this, is it any wonder he is now the winningest jockey of all time?
Part I - Getting Started (tons of photos)
Part III - Laffit Links (yet another photo and more stats)
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