Corey J. Lanerie

Born on November 13, 1974, Corey Lanerie grew up in Lafayette, La., a region revered for Cajun cuisine and known as a starting point for some of America’s best jockeys.

Lanerie’s grandfather had horses and his father, Gerald, was a jockey who later became a trainer. Lanerie honed his race riding skills as a youngster in weekend races with few rules known as “bush races” or “the bushes.” He won his first official race on April 19, 1991, at Evangeline Downs in Louisiana.

Lanerie has ridden more than 3,800 winners while concentrating his efforts in his home state and in Texas. In 2005, his career went to a new level when he changed his summer circuit to Midwest tracks. In 2009, Lanerie picked up the first Grade 1 victory of his career—the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington aboard Hooh Why—when the assigned jockey was unable to ride because of illness. Lanerie was nominated for the George Woolf Memorial Award that honors personal character on and off the track in 2011.