Top Jockey

While oftentimes horses win or lose races on their own, jockeys and trainers can play a key role in giving their horse the best chance to run to their potential. While horseplayers can look up jockey win percentages in a number of places across the web, Betting News jockey analysis tool provides a more in depth analysis of where jockeys may have a stronger impact on the outcome of a race.

Race setups are very different based on distance and surface. A sprint on dirt may require different tactics than a sprint on turf or a route on dirt. Even though a jockey may have an overall low percentage, they may get a disproportionate number of their wins or in-the-money finishes at a specific distance on a specific surface. If you can find this jockey you may be able to cash on a horse that other players are throwing out. Inversely, if you can find a high percentage jockey with bad stats in today's conditions, that can be equally as profitable.

With Betting News jockey analysis tool you can break down jockey stats by distance, surface, track, claiming level, and even post position to find these hidden angles that can be crucial elements in selecting winners at a price. As you adjust the filters the ratings will also adjust to reflect the jockey's past ability to finish in the top 3 placings in races under the selected conditions.

New to our tools? Read the handicapping tools guide. Also, don't forget to check out the trainer analysis tool to give yourself a further edge on the competition!

Track

Surface

Condition

Distances

Race Types

Posts

Top Jockeys

Name Starts Win % Show % DHP
1st/2nd/3rd
4th or 5th
6th +
Isaac Castillo 232 16% 49% Good
114
55
63
Elio J Barrera 231 10% 40% Poor
93
64
74
Christoff Douglas 223 12% 38% Poor
84
71
68
Jacqueline A Davis 213 11% 38% Poor
82
65
66
Erik Barbaran 212 21% 59% Great
126
43
43
Luis Alberto Batista 211 15% 48% Avg
102
51
58
Jose A Bracho 186 17% 44% Good
82
57
47
Samy Camacho 168 19% 58% Great
98
38
32
Joel Cruz 166 17% 48% Good
79
44
43
Alex Birzer 156 17% 47% Good
74
52
30
Keiber J Coa 155 18% 61% Great
94
36
25
Juan Crawford 148 20% 52% Good
77
33
38
Alexander Castillo 134 11% 46% Avg
62
29
43
Diego Emanuel De 129 14% 40% Poor
52
36
41
Ricardo Barrios 126 17% 44% Avg
55
38
33
La Cruz Walter De 124 20% 46% Good
57
36
31
Alexander Chavez 119 13% 35% Poor
42
42
35
Angel I Diaz 105 14% 47% Good
49
32
24
Misael Alvarez 93 6% 29% Bad
27
25
41
Cristian Alvarado 92 2% 26% Bad
24
24
44
Michael A Davila Jr 91 14% 43% Avg
39
29
23
Brian Boodramsingh 87 16% 39% Avg
34
27
26
Damario Bynoe 85 19% 56% Great
48
16
21
Jose Mariano Asencio 84 13% 32% Bad
27
28
29
Armando Alvidrez 79 23% 53% Great
42
16
21
Kelvin Arana 77 8% 30% Bad
23
16
38
Glenn W Corbett 68 22% 46% Good
31
21
16
Renaldo Cumberbatch 67 15% 49% Avg
33
15
19
Sven Balroop 65 11% 58% Great
38
17
10
Jose Baez 59 15% 42% Avg
25
18
16
Richard Balgobin 58 14% 36% Poor
21
16
21
Desean Bynoe 58 10% 26% Bad
15
20
23
Nazario Alvarado 56 7% 36% Bad
20
12
24
Agustin Bracho 53 6% 36% Poor
19
19
15
Dario Dalrymple 47 13% 45% Avg
21
15
11
Ridge Balgobin 45 9% 42% Bad
19
7
19
Michael David 45 9% 29% Poor
13
21
11
Kyle Carter 44 11% 36% Avg
16
18
10
Renzo Diaz 37 11% 41% Bad
15
7
15
Sheldon Chickeness 35 9% 34% Bad
12
11
12
Prayven Badrie 31 3% 26% Bad
8
13
10
McKenna Anderson 26 0% 8% Bad
2
8
16
Jan M Baez 26 0% 8% Bad
2
11
13
Arthur Budhu 25 0% 24% Bad
6
7
12
Brian A Cheyne 25 8% 36% Poor
9
10
6
Desmond Bryan 11 18% 36% Bad
4
2
5
M A Campillo 9 0% 22% Bad
2
5
2
Gabriel G Asencio 8 0% 12% Bad
1
4
3
Kodi Dottin-Downes 6 0% 0% Bad
0
3
3
Hector Rafael Diaz Jr 2 0% 0%  - 
0
1
1

Why Jockeys Matter?

Jockeys are pivotal for a couple of different reasons in a horse race. First, jockeys are responsible for positioning horses once the gates open. This may include getting them to the lead or dropping them into the proper position based on the horses preferred run style.

The second responsibility that jockeys have is to help the horse understand when to rate their energy and when to run. A jockey with a bad internal clock can leave his horse with too much to do late or chase after a pace that is way too fast for his horse.

The final role of the jockey is steering the horse into the path that will allow them to have the strongest finish to the wire. For all of these reasons having a good jockey on the horse you’re backing can be a great asset for any horse player.

Why is the Top Jockey Tool Helpful?

Horses can be upgraded or downgraded based on their jockeys, but many people will look at the overall percentage of a jockey and make their decision. However, jockeys tend to be specialists. There are very few that excel over all surfaces and distances. The DHP top jockey tool can help you break down jockeys by track, surface, condition, distance, level, and post position to better determine how they are likely to impact the horse’s race.

Using the Top Jockey Tool for a Race

To use the top jockey tool follow the steps below:

  1. Change the drop down menus to match any or all of the conditions for the race you are handicapping.
    • Track: Different tracks have different configurations. A jockey with success at the track could mean that they have a better understanding of how to ride there as opposed to riders who more recently shipped in.
    • Surface: Dirt and turf races are run in exact opposite dynamics. A good gate rider is likely to upgrade a horse on dirt because the race tends to reward early speed. Conversely on turf the best riders are good at knowing when to time their acceleration as the horses tend to run the fastest in the last part of the race.
    • Condition: This factor plays the biggest role when the ground is not fast or firm. A lot of tracks will drain water in different ways and a jockey with a good score on an off track could suggest they know how to avoid tiring paths on the track.
    • Distance: Horse races are often classified as either sprints (less than 8 furlongs) or routes (one mile and over). However, dynamics can change dramatically depending on the various lengths within each of these categories.
    • Race Types: Not all horses are the same. Knowing how a jockey does in a particular condition can be very important. For example, a gate rider might be better in a maiden race because those horses haven’t learned to win and may be hesitant to pass other horses. If you have a jockey that can get to the lead in these races that may suggest they can steal the race. A jockey who performs well in stakes races may suggest the jockey know how to get the most out of talented horses.
    • Barriers/Post Positions: Post positions can also be a vital factor in picking your jockey. Riders with success in post 1-3 are typically good at getting horses out quickly so as to avoid horses trying to merge down closer to the rail and avoid ground loss. Riders better in outer posts may be more adept at getting horses positioned correctly behind speed horses for a final run to the finish.
  2. Once you have set any or all of the filters, select the “Refresh Charts” button to see the updated data which reflects your race.

Using the Top Jockey Tool for an Individual Jockey

While the top jockey tool is extremely effective for looking at all the jockeys side by side, another useful tool is looking up an individual jockey.

This can be done from the top jockey charts. Simply find the jockey you want to look up and click their name. You will now see a report of their rating and percentages at every one of the filters from the top jockey tool.

Using this view you may be able to identify spots where you can beat a high percentage jockey. For example, the leading rider in the country Irad Ortiz Jr. is rated “Great” in most categories, except when his horses break from posts 10+. From these posts he is rated as “Poor”.