LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Taylor Kingsley,19, daughter of former top steeplechase jockey and trainer Arch Kingsley, had already won pony and amateur races all over the world when she rode in her first professional race as a flat jockey at a major racetrack.
Taylor Kinsley on Princetown at GulfstreamShe used that experience, plus her knowledge of the horse, to go right to the lead, save ground and improve her position to win by 2 1/2 lengths.
Kingsley rode Princetown for trainer Bill Mott in a $56,000.1 mile Allowance Optional Claiming race at Gulfstream on April 12.
She had started working for Mott as an exercise rider last January.
"It was fantastic," said Kingsley of winning. "I wasn't sure what to expect. I liked the horse. I'd worked him at home (at Churchill Downs, where Mott was stabled). There were a couple of horses in the race that I thought would be tough. If I'd been a betting man,, I would have bet against myself."
"We got a nice, clean trip in front, and no one could catch him." she said. “I’m lost for words. I’m grateful to Bill Mott. This is huge,”
Princetown, a 4-year-old by Speightstown, had previously run seven times with two wins.
AS TO REACTION from the male jockeys at Gulfstream to a female beating them in her first race, Kingsley said she didn't talk to any of them very much.
Taylor Kingsley winning an amateur Fegentri race in Morocco"I was in the girls' jock room, so I didn't see any of them until I was on the back of my horse," she said. "But I got a lot of water dumped on me after the race."
Kingsley started her career riding in pony races, and she rode her first international race in Abu Dhabi in a pony race.
She went on to ride in 11 countries with eight wins in Fegentri Federation amateur races.
"The most exotic places I rode at were Morocco and Turkey, but the most impressive was Chantilly in France," said Kingsley. "Chantilly is an A-plus racetrack I was lucky to ride there."
Also riding as an amateur, Kingsley won about 20 races from 40 races riding in flat races at steeplechase meets for her father as well as Ricky Hendriks, David Bourke and others.
Taylor KingsleyShe schooled horses at home in Camden for her father both on the flat and over fences and rode in her first race over fences about a week before her win at Gulfstream.
"I rode a horse that had been in Dad's barn since she was a yearling," said Kingsley of her first races over fences. "She said,, `Just get on me and I'll take care of you.' I loved it, but it would be tough to ride more jump races because of my weight being low tor ride a a professional on the flat."
Arch Kingsley had worked intermittently as an exercise rider for Mott while riding as a steeplechase jockey.
"From 1998 to 2003, I worked for Mott at Payson Park in Florida and at Saratoga," said Arch. "It helped my riding over fences."
Taylor started for Mott in January, then moved with him to Churchill Downs.
"I'm packing now to go to Saratoga," she said. "Mott has one group at Churchill and one at Belmont (where the training track is still open despite the track being closed for renovations)."
Since her win, Kingsley has ridden in only one more race, in which she finished fifth.
"I love my job," she said."I gallop four to eight horses a day. I just ride and work horses. But I like to go to the racetrack with them for the races, and I try to help out there, but I think most of the time I just get in the way."
"Short term, I want to be a jockey," said Kingsley. "I've always toyed with the idea of training. Maybe after I've finished being a jockey. But at this stage of my life I just want to be a jockey."
