Rick Wilson (jockey)

Rick Wilson was an American horse jockey that raced thoroughbred racehorses from 1972 until July 2004 when he was forced to retire due to injury. Wilson was born in 1953 in Oklahoma. He is married to a nurse, Jean Wilson, and together they have four children. He and his family live in Sykesville, Maryland. Wilson had a 24,681 start career with 2,939 firsts and total earnings of $77,303,270.^[1]

Racing

To say Wilson was a successful horse jockey is an understatement. With his passion for racing he was able to achieve success from an early age, starting his thirty-five year career in 1972 when he achieved his first win as a teenager racing quarter horses in Oklahoma.^[2] Wilson had a 4,939-win career, which ranks him twentieth all time amongst jockeys. He also won 4,250 seconds and 3,461 thirds. His most winning mount was a female filly by the name of Xtra Heat. He was able to achieve thirteen wins and two second-place finishes with this particular mount. Wilson fondly refers to her as “all heart, one in a million.” Wilson has seven Triple Crown mounts from his career, which is considered a great accomplishment. The best day of Wilson’s career was a six win day at Philadelphia Park. He had seven classic mounts in his career. These include five mounts in the Preakness at Pimlico Race Course and two Kentucky Derby mounts. In 2005 he was nominated for the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award for high standards of professional conduct in racing and life. However it was awarded to Ray Sibille.^[3] Wilson is quoted in The Baltimore Sun “’It's a rush being a rider,’ he said. ‘If you ride enough, you know you're going to get hurt. But you can get killed crossing a road, too.’” ^[4]

Accidents

Wilson’s luck began to turn on him late in his career with his first injury occurring in October 2001, the twenty-eighth year of his career.^[5] He was thrown from his horse, Home Verse, at Pimlico Race Course when Home Verse broke a leg in the race’s final turn. Wilson was thrown into the horse behind him causing him to suffer a broken femur in his right leg and three broken ribs. However, Wilson never once considered retiring in the 54 weeks he spent recovering. Just a few years later on May 8, 2004, at fifty years old, Wilson suffered a career ending injury after being thrown from his horse for a second time.^[6] Again he was racing at Pimlico Race Course. During the second race his mount, Advance to Go, stumbled out of the starting gate. While his horse was stumbling Wilson was tossed from the saddle, whereupon his mount proceeded to inadvertently step on the jockey’s head as he lay prone on the racetrack.^[7] He was flown from the Pimlico Race Course via a State Police MedEvac (medical evacuation) helicopter to the Maryland Shock Trauma Center. He spent the next week at the facility diagnosed to be in critical condition. He was discharged from the trauma center on May 25th 2004.^[8] He was then moved to Kernan Hospital for physical rehabilitation, where he remained at for some time until being released on June 20th 2004. Although he was required to undergo several surgeries his vision was distorted in his right eye due to severe cornea damage. He suffered a tremendous amount of additional nerve damage to right side of his face. These sustained injuries combined left him unable to continue racing. During this time Wilson visited a psychiatrist to help overcome the emotional and mental trauma the event had caused him. Shortly after his bad incident at Pimlico Wilson’s compassion for racehorses compelled him to become a steward. A steward is a type of professional trainer for active racehorses. He explained his decision to The Baltimore Sun by saying "Owners now just run horses until they can't run anymore," he said. "It used to be if a horse was sore, you'd turn him out until he recovered. Now, they don't care about the animal. Owners tell trainers where to run and when. It's too much of a business. And there's a problem with getting help. There are a lot of headaches and pressure in training.

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