Corey Lanerie, one of the Midwest’s most successful jockeys, has been named
the winner of the 2014 Santa Anita George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award by a
nationwide vote of his peers.
It is expected that Lanerie, who is currently based at Gulfstream Park, will
venture west to Santa Anita to accept the award in either March or April.
Lanerie, who broke his maiden at Evangeline Downs in April 1991, outpolled
four other finalists: David Amiss, Dennis Carr, Aaron Gryder and Scott Stevens.
Presented annually by Santa Anita since 1950, the Woolf Award is one of the
most highly coveted honors in all of racing as it recognizes those riders whose
careers and personal character earn esteem for both the individual and the sport
of Thoroughbred racing.
Born November 13, 1974, in Lafayette, Louisiana, Lanerie began galloping
horses at age nine, and like so many Cajun riders before him, he rode at
unrecognized “bush” tracks prior to officially launching his professional
career.
A winner of more than 3,500 races, Lanerie has won multiple riding titles at
Churchill Downs and was leading rider at Churchill’s 2013 Autumn Meeting. He has
also been leading rider at Ellis Park in Kentucky and at three Texas tracks —
Lone Star Park, Sam Houston and Retama Park.
Born to ride, Lanerie’s grandfather was a trainer who owned horses and his
father, Gerald, became a trainer following a career as a jockey.
Held in the highest regard by horsemen and fellow jockeys wherever he has
competed, Lanerie currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky, with his wife,
Shantel, and their young daughter, Brittlyn.
The Woolf Award was created to honor and memorialize the legendary jockey
George “The Iceman” Woolf, who was regarded as one of the greatest big money
riders of his time. Woolf died following a spill, which has often been
attributed to the effects of diabetes, on Santa Anita’s clubhouse turn January
3, 1946. The Woolf trophy is a replica of the full-size statue of the late
jockey which adorns Santa Anita’s Paddock Gardens area.
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