Four Vying For ‘Best Jockey’ Title

Four jockeys are in contention for the Longines World’s Best Jockey title for 2015 with five races remaining in the contest. Frankie Dettori has a narrow lead of 100 points over Victor Espinoza (90 points). Dettori finished second aboard Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Oct. 31 and filled the same spot on Max Dynamite (Fr) (Great Journey {Jpn}) in the G1 Melbourne Cup three days later, while Espinoza won Saturday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Classic with American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and was second in the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff a day earlier aboard Stellar Wind (Curlin). Maxime Guyon, the Wertheimer brothers’ retained rider, is third with 88 points, and Javier Castellano is fourth with 86 points.

The scoring for the award is based on performances in the 100 highest-rated Group/Grade I races established for the year by the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings Committee. The scoring includes races from Dec. 1 of last year until Nov. 30 this year. Jockeys earn 12 points for a win, six points for placing second, and four points for placing third. The final five races in the series are Saturday’s Darley Classic and Emirates S. in Australia; the Mile Championship in Japan, the Cigar Mile in the U.S. and the Japan Cup.