Taylor Kingsley was in the midst of a smoky drive home from Delaware Park, where the races had been canceled due to poor air quality caused by Canadian wildfires, when her phone rang.

“What are you up to on Monday?” her former boss, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, asked.

“Not much,” Kingsley replied. “Probably just breezing some horses at Fair Hill [Training Center in Maryland].”

“Do you want to ride one for me at Presque Isle Downs?” Mott inquired.

“I’d love to!” Kingsley said, thinking it was just a mount in an overnight race.

“It’s kind of far,” Mott emphasized. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, yeah!” replied Kingsley.

“Great,” Mott said, “you’re riding Quiet Street in the Lady Erie Stakes.”

“I just about drove my car off the road.” Kingsley remembered. “I had never ridden in a stakes race for anyone, let alone for Bill Mott.”

Kingsley all smiles after Lady Erie Stakes (Coady Media)

Her excitement proved justified when she rode Quiet Street to a last-to-first, 1 ¾-length victory in the six-furlong sprint stakes on July 20. It was Kingsley’s first stakes win, her 15th professional victory, and just the latest milestone in an already action-packed career in the horse world. She has ridden winners all over the world, worked for some of the sport’s biggest names, and seen many stars up close.

Kingsley has the pedigree for success in the horse world. Her paternal grandparents, Kassie and Arch Kingsley Sr., were staples of the Virginia steeplechase scene for decades, with Arch Sr. serving as Master of Foxhounds for the Middleburg Hunt. Her father, Arch Jr., rode 130 winners in a career that spanned two decades, and was the country’s leading steeplechase rider in 1997 and 1999. He’s since become a top steeplechase trainer, saddling Grade 1 winners Top Striker, Show Court, Merry Maker, and L’Imperator. Her mother, Wendy, is an accomplished eventing rider.

Growing up in that horse-centric environment at her family’s Long Leaf Stable farm in Camden, S.C., put Kingsley on the fast track to a career in the racing world. “I grew up on the back of a pony,” she said.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, then-high school freshman Kingsley — forced to stay home — began galloping horses on the farm.

That experience led to Kingsley accompanying her father to the track and galloping horses for him in the morning, which in turn helped her get her National Steeplechase Association license and joining the Amateur Riders Club of America (ARCA).

After joining ARCA, Kingsley began competing in “training flat” races at various steeplechase meets all over the Mid-Atlantic.

“They’re open condition, they don’t count against you, and they let you run your horse without any penalty to their record,” Kingsley said. “I rode in a lot of those as an amateur, and in those races, I rode against professionals over all types of courses, left-handed, right-handed. It gave me lots of experience.”

Kingsley before her first win in April 2025 (Coglianese Photos/Ryan Thompson)

Kingsley won her fifth training flat race at the 2023 Carolina Cup meet in Camden, making her eligible for the prestigious Fegentri series, a series of races restricted to amateur riders held all over the world. “[Qualifying] was a huge goal of mine,” she explained. “I didn’t think I’d be able to do it consistently. I thought maybe I’d get to go on a trip or two, but I qualified myself for an entire year [of races].”

Her biggest break came in Casablanca, Morocco in November 2023, when she captured a 6 ½-furlong sprint by three-quarters of a length on a horse named Layssae.

"One of the final races in the Fegentri year was approaching,” ARCA executive director Don Youvanovich told the Temple Gwathmey Steeplechase Foundation. “For some reason, several of the invited riders declined their invitation. I was asked if I would like to send an extra rider to Casablanca for the Ladies World Championship race. Any points she should earn would not count, but they needed another rider. ‘Why not, let's send Taylor for the experience.’ Well, it wasn't just experience she got, she got the win, too, and the attention of the entire Fegentri world. It was love at first sight.”

That victory led to her serving as the American representative in the 2024 Fegentri Ladies World Championship Series. That year, she won races in Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Ireland, and rode in many other nations, including some not known for racing, such as Turkey, Hungary, and Spain.

“Racing would never take me to Morocco except through this program,” Kingsley reflected. “It was really interesting to see the diversity in different riding styles. I gained so much experience, and I was really fortunate to go to so many different meets.

“A lot of European countries are very limited in their racing. It’s a tight-knit community, and they do a very, very good job of promoting it and getting fans involved.” she continued. “When I rode in Magdeburg, Germany, it was during the week, and the crowd was still huge. It was really impressive to see how many people came to watch.”

Kingsley cites the opportunity to ride at Chantilly on the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) undercard in 2024 as a particularly memorable highlight.

“If you’ve ever seen the racecourse, the outside rail lies right along the Château de Chantilly. When you’re coming around past the three-furlong point, you’re literally right by a castle. It’s really cool.”

While her Fegentri participation certainly helped fill her passport book, Kingsley was no stranger to Europe. Her connections in the American steeplechase world, full of Irish visitors and expats, led to her spending two winters working in Ireland. She worked for top steeplechase trainer John Hanlon in 2023 then for accomplished flat horseman Joseph O’Brien in 2024.

Kingsley, who described herself as “built for Ireland,” quickly fell in love with the country and its racing culture.

“I was ready to pack my bags and move there,” she said of her experience. “It’s a very small country, and you can throw a stone and hit either a racetrack or a racing yard. Every pub, if it has a TV, has racing on. There’s bookies lining the streets. It’s a lifestyle over there, and it’s really fun to be around. It’s so exciting.”

Upon her return to the U.S., Kingsley found herself at a bit of a crossroads. Her experience with Fegentri cemented her desire to become a professional jockey, but she wasn’t sure how to go about doing it. A major step in that direction came in early 2025, when she began working for Mott at Payson Park in Florida.

“My dad worked for Mott years ago, back when he was just a young guy. When the steeplechase season slowed down in the winter, he would go down and work for him,” Kingsley said. “Ever since then, they’ve been friends. He told Mott, ‘Taylor really wants to come down and work for you. Would you be willing to take her on?’ ”

Bill Mott trainee Quiet Street (Coady Media)

Mott said to have Taylor give him a call, and she soon found herself wintering in Florida.

Kingsley spent the next year and three months in Mott’s employ. She wintered in Florida, spent the spring at Churchill Downs, and summered in Saratoga Race Course. Along the way, she spent time with Mott’s stable stars, including last year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Sovereignty. She got to know, among others, Mott’s first-call rider, Junior Alvarado, and Mott’s long-time assistant, Neil Poznansky. She savored every day of the experience.

“From the first day I worked there, the quality of horses I got to work with was amazing. You walked in the barn and looked at the pedigrees, and it was incredible. I had never gotten to work with that level of horses before. There’s a laundry list of horses for which I got to be a small part of their journey, and that was really, really fun.

“I found it fun when we got the 2-year-olds in and started working with them, kind of from scratch. I remember when Quiet Street and Chief Wallabee joined the barn, they were so green. They didn’t know how to walk through a starting gate, much less go out and run in big races. Experiences like that were really cool.”

With all the thrills Kingsley experienced while working for Mott, perhaps the biggest surprise came one afternoon in April 2025. She had spent some time working with a 4-year-old colt named Princetown, breezing him at Gulfstream Park a few times. She may have known that Mott was pointing him for a first-level allowance optional claiming race on the grass on April 12, but Mott didn’t mention who he had in mind to ride.

“It was 6:30 at night, I was sitting at home, and I got a text from Bill. I thought, ‘Uh oh, I never get texts from Bill. What’s going on?!’” Kingsley remembers. “It was just a link to the overnight, and I clicked on it.”

Scrolling through the entries, Kingsley noted Princetown’s presence in the afternoon’s ninth race. “I looked to see who was riding, and it said, ‘Taylor Kingsley,’ and I thought, ‘Oh. My. God.’ I freaked out. I was renting a house with a lot of people, and I’m sure they heard me jumping up and down.”

Kingsley celebrates first win (Coglianese Photos/Ryan Thompson)

With her parents in attendance, Kingsley took full advantage of her opportunity. She rode Princetown to a 2 ½-length, gate-to-wire win for her first professional victory. (In addition to her international amateur wins, she won a pair of amateur races at Delaware in 2023 and 2024).

The victory led to Kingsley getting a handful of mounts for Mott throughout the rest of 2025 and early 2026, along with some rides for her dad and Maryland veteran trainer Kevin Boniface.

On Feb. 19, Kingsley earned her fifth professional victory at Gulfstream on a Godolphin-owned, Mott trainee named Kapoor. With that win, the apprentice clock began ticking. Her apprentice weight allowance dropped from 10 pounds to seven pounds. It would stay at seven pounds for no more than a year, at which point it would drop to a five-pound allowance. If she wanted to take advantage of the weight break and fully pursue her dream of becoming a professional jockey, now was the time to make the leap, even if it meant making the difficult move of leaving Mott’s stable.

In mid-April, Kingsley took the next step on her journey and began riding full-time at Laurel Park in Maryland. Many of her mounts were on Boniface-trained runners.

“Kevin has been one of my biggest supporters since I went fully professional,” she said. “I wasn't even in the state of Maryland, I just told him I was going up there, and he named me on a horse within a day. Since then, he’s put me on some very nice horses and has really gotten the ball rolling.”

Her first win at Laurel came on May 23, when she guided the very speedy Diana McClure trainee Karma’s Inthehouse to a front-running score.

Since the Laurel meet concluded in late June, Kingsley has been in “have saddle, will travel” mode. Although she is mostly based at Colonial Downs in Virginia with agent Simon Purdy, she’s picked up mounts at Delaware, Saratoga, Monmouth Park, Charles Town Races, and Penn National Race Course.

Her trip to Presque Isle, however, was her most memorable yet. She had worked closely with Quiet Street during her 2-year-old season in 2025 and knew her well.

Winner's circle photo aboard Quiet Street (Coady Media)

“She was probably my favorite horse I sat on. I spent a lot of quality time with her,” Kingsley said. “You look at her past performances, and you know she’s a closer, even though she breaks well. She likes to warm herself into the race and come with a big rush. She’s so athletic and makes it look like they’re standing still once she gets going.”

For Kingsley, winning her first stakes race aboard a horse she has such a deep connection with was the thrill of a lifetime.

“It was the coolest thing ever! To win on one of my favorite horses … in a $100,000 stakes, it was so exciting.”

With every mount she picks up and every mile she drives, Kingsley’s star shines a bit brighter. As of July 28, she’s won 10 races from 97 mounts with purse earnings of $391,853 in 2026. Her short-term plan is to take it one day at a time and use her wealth of experience to continue to improve.

“My dream was always to be a jockey, but there’s no rules or blueprints for how to go about doing it. There’s no ‘Being a Jockey for Dummies.’ I’ve figured it out on the go, and I’ve gotten a lot of help from a lot of people. There’s a lot of people in my life who were really willing to help and push me towards decisions that have helped me get this far.

“There’s nothing set in stone [for the fall], but that’s kind of how I live my life. I hope that what’s for me won't pass me and to just take things as they come. I have a couple of ideas brewing, but we’ll see how things shake out and take it from there.”