Julien Leparoux
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Julien R. Leparoux (born July 15, 1983 in Senlis, Oise, France) is a Champion jockey currently racing in the United States.
Leparoux, grew up in a racing family, the son of a jockey turned assistant trainer. He worked at the Chantilly Racecourse as a stable hand and in January 2003 emigrated to California to work as an exercise rider for fellow Frenchman, trainer Patrick Biancone. He embarked on his professional riding career in the summer of 2005 at Saratoga Race Course where he earned his first win on August 18. He finished the 2006 Saratoga meet with 28 wins, the most in track history by an apprentice. In 2006 he was also the leading winning jockey during the Turfway Park winter/spring meet, Churchill Downs spring/summer meet, and Keeneland Race Course spring meet (where he tied with Rafael Bejarano).
For 2006, Julien Leparoux got his big break by his wins of 403 races to lead all jockeys in the United States. His total wins and earnings of $12,491,316 for the year were the most by an apprentice jockey in racing history. He was voted the 2006 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey.
In 2007 Leparoux again won riding titles at Turfway's winter/spring meet, Keeneland's spring meet and Churchill Downs' spring/summer meet. His was the first apprentice to win a riding title at Keeneland.
On June 27, 2007, Leparoux became only the fifth jockey in the 133-year history of Churchill Downs to ride six winners on a single card. On November 11, 2008 he rode seven winners on a single racecard at Churchill Downs, tying a twenty-four-year-old record set by Pat Day on June 20, 1984. [1]
Breeders Cup 2009 was a career best for Julien. He became the 2nd jockey in history to win 3 breeders cup races in a single year following Garrett Gomez. He also was the only jockey to win multiple Breeders Cup races and that garnered him the Shoemaker Award and left him with a career best in earnings and put him in the leaders spot as far as money earned nationally among jockeys.
Julien joined a group of the most celebrated jockeys in history when on January 18, 2010 it was announced he had received the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey 2009.
Contents
Julien at Keeneland Race Track
- Fifth all-time leading jockey by wins (389) and stakes wins (48).
- Won three stakes races during the 2015 Fall Meet—First Lady (G1) on Tepin, Dixiana Bourbon (G3) on Airoforce and Buffalo Trace Franklin County on Ageless.
- Won the Lafayette Presented by Keeneland Select on Falling Sky on Prelude to the Cup on Oct. 29.
- Won the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) on Tepin on Oct. 31.
- Rode Divining Rod to win the 2015 Coolmore Lexington (G3) during the Spring Meet.
- Won 2014 Darley Alcibiades (G1) on Peace and War, Pin Oak Valley View (G3) on Sparkling Review and Giant’s Causeway on Ageless.
- Leading rider 10 times: 2014 Spring, 2012 Spring and Fall, 2011 Spring and Fall, 2010 Fall, 2009 Spring, 2007 Spring and 2006 Spring (tie and as an apprentice) and Fall meets.
- Won six stakes in 2013, including the Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass on Java’s War, Jenny Wiley on Centre Court, First Lady on Better Lucky and Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on Kitten’s Dumplings. Toyota Blue Grass and Jenny Wiley wins both came on April 13.
- Won six races on a 10-race card on April 20, 2012, to equal Craig Perret and Randy Romero for most wins on a single card.
- First Keeneland win came during the 2005 Fall Meet.
- First Keeneland stakes win was the 2006 Lafayette on Likely.
Starters at Toyota Blue Grass
| Year | Horse | Finish | 2015 | Danzig Moon | 2nd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Vinceremos | 14th | |||
| 2013 | Java’s War | 13th | |||
| 2012 | Ever So Lucky | 10th | |||
| 2011 | Santiva | 9th | |||
| 2010 | Pleasant Prince | 7th | |||
| 2009 | Terrain | 4th | |||
| 2007 | Time Squared | 6th | |||
| 2006 | Sadler’s Trick | 7th |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2006–present) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| National Earnings List for Jockeys 2006 | 8 |
| National Earnings List for Jockeys 2007 | 11 |
| National Earnings List for Jockeys 2008 | 11 |
| National Earnings List for Jockeys 2009 | 2 |
| National Earnings List for Jockeys 2010 | 7 |
| National Earnings List for Jockeys 2011 | 6 |
| National Earnings List for Jockeys 2012 | 7 |
| National Earnings List for Jockeys 2013 | 16 |
| National Earnings List for Jockeys 2014 | 23 |
| National Earnings List for Jockeys 2015 | 12 |
Family
At age 29, Julien married Shea Mitchell. Shea, like Julien, is also the child of a racehorse trainer, hence how they met. They grew up around the same people and places but did not really meet until one year the Keeneland races. During one of the races that Shea attended, Julien fell off and broke his hand. Later that week, Shea tweeted at Julien a simple "I hope you’re ok". That is when the love story began. Not long after, they got married. Shea Tweeted a picture of Julien and her father with the caption "2007, when Julien rode On the Acorn for dad. He probably never guessed he was looking @ his future son in law".[2] On September 24, 2015, they were blessed with their first son, Mitchell Leparoux. At only 4 days old, Mitchell was out at Keeneland watching his dad warm up horses in the early morning and racing during the day![3]
