If it is a race day, she turns around in the afternoon and drives the hour once more and is back at the race track by 5:30pm. She’ll then ride in one to five races, depending on how successful she or her agent was in getting her mounts. She’ll finally be done around 11:30pm and then will have to face the ride back to York, only to have the alarm clock ring a short four and a half hours later calling her back to the horses. And such is the life of an apprentice jockey.

What exactly does being an “apprentice” jockey mean? Well, I asked Cara that and she explained that when you start riding races you remain an apprentice with a 10-pound weight allowance until you ride five winners. Cara stated that it took her a year before she even rode her first winner. She explained that it took so long, however, because when you first start out you have to beg, borrow and steal mounts until you start to prove yourself. Her first year riding as an apprentice, she probably rode in only 30 races. There are advantages to the trainers, however, because of the 10-pound weight allowance, so it’s not as impossible to get rides as you may think. Horses are handicapped to make the race more even by making the faster, stronger horses carry more weight. If you have an apprentice jockey on your mount, however, they carry ten pounds less than they normally would. That could make all the difference in the world in a really tight race.

Anyway, explained Cara, after you ride your fifth winner, every other jockey at the track converges upon you and upends a barrel of ice, water, eggs, ketchup, mustard, and any other handy condiments over your head and then shoe polishes you. This is called the “breaking your maiden” initiation ritual. When asked where such a ritual developed, Cara laughed and said, “I have no idea, nor do I care since it only happens once and mine is over. Now I get to do it to others!”

Be that as it may, after your fifth winner, you’re still an apprentice, or “bug” rider, for one more full year with a weight allowance of 7 pounds, unless, of course, you ride 35 winners. From the point you ride your 35th winner, your weight allowance for the rest of the year is 5 pounds.

I asked Cara what training you need to be a jockey. Cara stated that there’s no official training, you just usually start galloping horses at the track for someone. Then, when you feel you’re ready, you start asking trainers for mounts. Some riders work for one stable while others, like Cara, ride for whoever will offer her a mount. For the last six months, she’s had an agent that helps her obtain her rides.

Cara herself sorta fell into the jockey business. She had ridden all her life but was mainly interested in show jumping. A friend of hers who worked for a stable called her one day, said they lost an employee, and asked if she would be interested in galloping race horses. (“Galloping” is the exercising and conditioning given to race horses to prepare them for competition.) Cara jumped at the chance, naturally, and then eventually decided she wanted to be a jockey. “I wish I had started earlier, when I was 18 or 19. I’m 27, now, which is old to be an apprentice. I wouldn’t trade this job for anything in the world, however.”

I asked Cara how her family felt about her being a jockey, since it’s obviously such a high-risk sport. Cara stated that her family has finally accepted it, although they do still occasionally offer to send her to college. “I was going to college before and paying for it myself. Now, occasionally, my family offers to pay my way. But they accept I love it and come out to the Off-Track Wagering Center in York when I’m riding. My daughter, of course, just loves everything about my job.” Cara said, “She plays with some of the trainers’ and owners’ children at the track and consciously imitates me. Her most common thing is to say to me ‘I’ve gotta ride one more horse, Mommy, then I’ll be right back.’” Sheepishly, “I guess I’ve said that to her a lot. She refuses to kiss me after I’ve ridden, though, because I’m dirty. She waits for me to get cleaned up first.”

I asked Cara if people treated her differently, as she is one of the few female jockeys. She said, “the fans like the girls because we’re different and it gives them something to help them decide which way to bet. Some of the other jockeys think they can push us around, but I’ve gotten to the point where I hold my ground, and they pretty much leave me alone.”

Jockeys
1. Jose L. Flores
2. Clinton L. Potts
3. Thomas Clifton
4. Luis H. Munar
5. Lazaro Vives

Trainers
1. Karen M. Kunes
2. Bruce M. Kravets
3. Kelly D. Ritchie
4. Harry F. Thompson, Jr.
5. Jeff C. Runco

Horses
1. Slew’s Minor
2. Sgt. Ivor
3. Jolly Joker
4. Primordial
5. Laura Lee