Stewart Elliott
Elliott who was born March 1, 1965, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada grew up in a horse racing family. His father was a jockey for many years, his mother rode show horses and was a riding instructor, and his uncle owns a racing stable in Canada. At age seven, his family moved to race in Hong Kong where they remained for six years before coming to the United States. Stewart began riding professionally at age 16, mainly at Philadelphia Park Racetrack. A steady, hard worker, he has been the racetrack's leading jockey for many years. On May 13, 2003 he reached a prestigious milestone, riding his 3,000th career winner. On January 18, 2009 he won the 4,000th race of his career at Philadelphia Park. In 2004 was Stewart's big break when on May 1, 2004, Elliott became the first jockey in twenty-five years to win the Kentucky Derby in his first appearance in the race. His horse, Smarty Jones, became the first unbeaten Derby winner since Seattle Slew in 1977. Two weeks later, Elliott rode Smarty Jones to a record-breaking win in the Preakness Stakes. In the Belmont Stakes, the third leg, Elliott took Smarty Jones out early and the colt made a valiant effort, but was passed by Birdstone in the end. During his breakthrough year in 2004, Elliot won 262 races out of 1,363 mounts with earnings of $14,533,061.
