Manuel Franco

Manny Franco took out his jockey's license in 2013 and earned his first career graded stakes victory in 2015 with Coffee Clique in the Grade 3 Dr. James Penny Memorial Handicap. Franco earned a then-career-best $9,353,812, which ranked 14th in North America among all jockeys, and managed to improve upon that in each of the next three seasons.

Franco won the Grade 3 Withers Stakes in 2015 with Far From Over and again in 2016 with Sunny Ridge. He earned his first Grade 1 win on Oct. 1, 2016, when he guided Joking to a win in the Vosburgh Stakes and added a second a week later when he won the Frizette Stakes on Yellow Agate.

In 2018, he posted new career-best totals for wins (251) and purse earnings ($17,068,709). He also earned him milestone 1,000th career win on Oct. 5, 2018, at Belmont Park on Courageous Bet.