Rosemary Homeister Jr.
It was in 1992 that Rosemary Homeister Jr. achieved a first for a female rider by winning the Eclipse Award as the outstanding apprentice jockey. That breakthrough honor signaled the start of a highly successful career from 1992-2015 that saw her win 2,784 races. She was born on July 5, 1972, in Hollywood, Fla., and was destined to be a jockey. Her father, James Homeister, was a rider who won more than 500 races, while her mother, Rosemary Homeister Sr., rode in 29 races from 1977-81. Homeister began exercising horses and breaking horses as a teenager. In 1992, she began riding as an apprentice at Calder and won 172 races that year and compiled $1,769,063 in earnings while winning the riding title at the Tropical at Calder meet and gained enough national attention to be voted as the recipient of an Eclipse Award. After her sensational debut in 1992, Homeister won 100 or more races in 11 of the next 12 years. she also won more than 100 stakes in her career, 13 of which were graded.
