Kent Desormeaux is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey. Desormeaux was sixteen years old when he began working as an apprentice jockey at the Evangeline Downs racetrack in Lafayette, Louisiana. On July 13, 1986, he rode Miss Tavern to his first career victory.
As of 2021, Desormeaux holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year with 598 wins in 1989. He has won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes three times each, and the Belmont Stakes once. Aboard Real Quiet, he lost the 1998 Triple Crown by a nose.In 1995, Desormeaux, aged 25, became the youngest rider to amass 3,000 victories. That year, he scored his second Breeders' Cup title when he beat the "boys" in the Breeders' Cup Sprint with the filly Desert Stormer. In 1997, at age 27, he was the youngest jockey to surpass $100 million in career earnings. He is one of the best horse racing jockies the US has seen to this day.
Desormeaux reached a milestone only 18 others in North America have met on Jan. 27, 2019 at Santa Anita Park, when he rode X S Gold to victory to secure his 6,000th win. As of his 6000th win, he climbed to no. 16 on the all-time wins list and no. 6 in mount earnings.
