Ocala rider wins prestigious apprentice award from Jockey Club of Canada


Sofia Vives capture’s her 5th win on the card guiding Sabatini to victory in the $125,000 dollar Star Shoot Stakes on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Sabatini is owned by NK Racing and LNJ Foxwoods and trained by Josie Carroll. [Woodbine/ Michael Burns Photo]

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Posted April 30, 2024 | By JOHANNA HUEBSCHER
Correspondent

Sofia Vives’ dream career as a jockey is off to a fast start after the 21-year-old from Ocala recently won the Sovereign Award for Best Young Apprentice Jockey from the Jockey Club of Canada.

“To win this one was pretty rewarding,” Vives said. “We work hard all year and I’m very grateful for the horses and the owners and trainers and everybody on the backside who can help us.”

Vives was honored April 18 at the Jockey Club’s 49th annual awards celebration. Last year, she was an Eclipse Awards finalist for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

Several members of the Vives family have been jockeys including her father Lazaro Vives, now retired, and an uncle.

“Watching my dad’s replays and races that he won is pretty mesmerizing,” Vives said. Growing up, she was always around the farms in Ocala and knew that she wanted to race one day.

“As a little kid, I knew this is what my dream was always to be. I always wanted to be the girl who could do the boys sports,” she said. Although more women are entering the sport, only around 12 % of jockeys in the U.S. are female, according to a 2020 study in the Journal of Sports Economics.

“I wanted to go in and show the boys that I can be just as tough as them and here we are,” Vives said.

Vives started galloping horses at 17. In 2022, she rode 16 races in two weeks and won four of them. An apprenticeship, which is a jockey’s first year of riding races, starts after their fifth win. At the beginning of December, Vives stopped racing temporarily to improve her fitness back in Ocala before she started her apprenticeship.

Then, in April of 2023, Vives came back and rode the entire year. Apprentices have 365 days from their fifth win to win as many races as possible. According to Equibase, a horse racing results data base, in the last year, Vives rode in 764 races and won 126 of them. Horses that Vives races earned over $3.5 million.

She describes her career as unimaginable.

“We try to take advantage of all the opportunities that we’re handed,” Vives said. “Thank God I’m able to continue working hard and riding and hopefully God continues watching over all of us and allows us all to stay safe.”

Vives said her parents are her biggest influence.

“Both have had my back through a lot of ups and downs,” she said. “They’ve always taught me through hard work and dedication, success will come for you in the end.”

Vives plans to continue riding and learning and “gain as much knowledge” as she can. Her season will last from May 27 through Dec. 16. She’ll race at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto and also at Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie, Ontario.

Because of Canada’s cold weather, jockeys are not limited to 365 calendar days, but only have to count race days toward their year-long apprenticeship. This allows Vives to effectively race two years instead of one and permits her to shoot for back-to-back Sovereign Awards, a goal she’s set for herself. She hopes to one day win the Triple Crown.

“This career sometimes isn’t long lasting,” she said, “and I would love it to be my lifelong career.”

 

 

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