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.

In 2019, Franco rode standout turf and dirt sprinter World of Trouble in his final three career starts, all graded stakes wins.