Kent J. Desormeaux

Since his debut at Evangeline Downs in his home state of Louisiana in 1986, Desormeaux has been one of America's most successful jockeys and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2004. He won the Eclipse Award in 1987 as the outstanding apprentice and two more Eclipse Awards in 1989 and 1992 as outstanding jockey.

In 1989, he smashed the record for victories in a season with 599, a mark that still stands. In the years since, he was the youngest rider to reach a number of milestones for career victories and earnings. Desormeaux has won riding titles at six American tracks and in Tokyo. Desormeaux has won the Kentucky Derby three times, with Real Quiet, Fusaichi Pegasus and Big Brown, the Preakness with Real Quiet and Big Brown, and the Belmont Stakes with Summer Bird. He added a third win in the Preakness in 2016 with Kentucky Derby runner-up Exaggerator.

In 2014, Desormeaux was the regular rider for Texas Red, who won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and was a finalist for the 2-year-old male Eclipse Award. Texas Red was Desormeauxs fifth victory at the Breeders Cup World Championships. The other Breeders Cup wins were: 2010 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic, Unrivaled Belle; 2007 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Corinthian; 1995 Breeders' Cup Sprint, Desert Stormer; and 1993 Breeders' Cup Turf, Kotashaan.

2016 was a good one for Desormeaux. He won the Santa Anita Derby aboard Exaggerator before finishing second on that mount in the Kentucky Derby. He followed with his third win in the Preakness Stakes when he guided Exaggerator past previously unbeaten Nyquist at the top of the Pimlico stretch and the duo powered to victory.