Florent Geroux

Florent Geroux
Geroux in 2016
Occupation Jockey
Born (1986-07-16) July 16, 1986[1]
Argentan, France
Career wins 1,160+[2]
Major racing wins

Arlington Million (2015)
Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (2015)
Cotillion Stakes (2015)
Louisiana Derby (2016)
United Nations Stakes (2016)
Ogden Phipps Stakes (2016)
Belmont Oaks (2016)
Beverly D. Stakes (2016)
Secretariat Stakes (2016)
Natalma Stakes (2016)
Spinster Stakes (2016)
E.P. Taylor Stakes (2016)
Delaware Handicap (2016)
Edgewood Stakes (2016, 2017)
Clark Handicap (2016)
La Troienne Stakes (2017)
Stephen Foster Handicap (2017)
Whitney Stakes (2017)
Woodward Stakes (2017)
Pegasus World Cup (2018)
Ashland Stakes (2018)
Kentucky Oaks (2018)

Breeders' Cup wins:
Breeders' Cup Sprint (2014, 2015), Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (2015)
Breeders' Cup Classic (2017)
Significant horses
Gun Runner, I'm a Chatterbox, The Pizza Man, Work All Week, Monomoy Girl

Florent Geroux (born July 16, 1986) is a jockey who has earned over 1,000 wins in American thoroughbred horse racing, including the 2017 Breeders' Cup Classic on Gun Runner.

Background

Geroux was born in 1986 Argentan, France[1]. His father Dominique was a jockey and later a trainer in France. At age 13, Geroux was accepted into the French riding academy, Afasec. He later started riding in France and became a leading apprentice.[3] He secured his first win on May 6, 2004 at Longchamp on Chopyluz.[1]

Geroux married Kasey Spindler, whose father was a Chicago-based jockey, Louis Spindler. The couple have two children, Olivia and Celine.[4]

On May 23, 2018, Geroux became a U.S. citizen, taking the Oath of Allegiance at the naturalization ceremony in Louisville, Kentucky. [5]

North American Career

Geroux came to the United States for the first time in early 2007, working with trainer Patrick Biancone for a few months before returning briefly to France.[3]

In the fall of 2007, Geroux returned to the United States with the intention of joining the Kentucky racing circuit. On the opening day at Keeneland, he suffered a serious fall, suffering a broken wrist and two fractured vertebrae. He recuperated in France for several months then returned to the States with Chicago as his home base. He enjoyed some success over the next years, finishing tenth in the Arlington jockey standings in 2010 and winning the 2011 Hawthorne meet.[3] He earned his first stakes wins on Zoeling in the 2010 Leemat Stakes at Presque Isle Downs.[1]

In 2010, Geroux changed agents to Doug Bredar and gradually climbed the jockey ranks in the Chicago area. In 2014, Geroux scored his first Grade I victory in the Breeders' Cup Sprint aboard Chicago-based Work All Week.[1]

In 2015, Geroux relocated to Kentucky and was the leading rider at Kentucky Downs, where he won five races on two different days, and also led the Fair Grounds 2015-6 meet.[4] He won the Arlington Million with The Pizza Man and two races at the 2015 Breeders' Cup: the Sprint with Mongolian Saturday and the Juvenile Fillies Turf with Catch a Glimpse.[1]

Geroux had a career best year in 2016, with earnings of $17,690,013 and 217 wins, including two Grade I wins on I’m a Chatterbox.[1] He picked up the mount on Gun Runner at the start of the year and rode him to a win in the Louisiana Derby and a third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. After the pair finished second in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, they capped the year with a win in the Clark Handicap.[6] Another highlight was winning four graded races on Arlington Million Day: the Beverly D, Secretariat, American St. Leger and Pucker Up.[7] He earned his 1,000th North American win on December 29 aboard Mr. Misunderstood at the Fair Grounds.[8]

In 2017, Geroux was ranked in the top ten of North American jockeys. With Gun Runner, he won the Breeders' Cup Classic and four other stakes race, plus a second-place finish in the Dubai World Cup. "You ride a thousand horses a year, and this one, there's just something special," said Geroux of his connection in Gun Runner. "I'm not a true believer in that, but I do believe now."[9]

Year-end charts

Chart (2011–present) Peak
position
National Earnings List for Jockeys 2011 78
National Earnings List for Jockeys 2012 126
National Earnings List for Jockeys 2013 96
National Earnings List for Jockeys 2014 35
National Earnings List for Jockeys 2015 13
National Earnings List for Jockeys 2016 5
National Earnings List for Jockeys 2017 7

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Florent Geroux Bio". www.keeneland.com. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Equibase Profile – Florent Geroux". equibase.com. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "Florent Geroux". Arlington Park. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Jockey Florent Geroux traveling to the top".
  5. ↑ https://www.courierpress.com/story/sports/2018/07/04/jockey-florent-geroux-spends-first-july-4th-american-citizen-ellis-park/758339002/
  6. ↑ "Geroux and Gun Runner prove successful partners in crime | Daily Racing Form". www.drf.com. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  7. ↑ Tribune, Chicago. "Florent Geroux rides the winner in Beverly D, Secretariat and St. Leger".
  8. ↑ "Jockey Geroux Earns North American Win 1,000". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  9. ↑ "Gun Runner saves best for last in Breeders' Cup Classic | Daily Racing Form". www.drf.com. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
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