Florent Geroux (born July 16, 1986) is a jockey who has earned over 1,700 wins in American

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

, including the

2017 Breeders' Cup Classic The 2017 Breeders' Cup Classic was the 34th running of the Breeders' Cup Classic, part of the 2017 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships program. It was run on November 4, 2017, at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California with a purse of ...

on Gun Runner, two Breeders' Cup Distaff wins with

Monomoy Girl Monomoy Girl (foaled March 26, 2015) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly of 2018 and Champion Older Female Horse of 2020. She showed very promising form as a juvenile in 2017 when she ...

, and the 2021 Kentucky Derby on

Mandaloun The mandaloun ( ar, مندلون) is a term given to a type of mullioned window. The mandaloun is an element of the traditional architecture of Lebanon that first appeared in the 17th-century stately mansions and later in the vernacular houses o ...

Background

Geroux was born in 1986

Argentan Argentan () is a Communes of France, commune and the seat of two Canton in France, cantons and of an arrondissement in France, arrondissement in the Orne Departments of France, department in northwestern France. Argentan is located NE of Rennes ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

. His father Dominique was a jockey and later a trainer in France. At age 13, Geroux was accepted into the French riding academy, Afasec. He later started riding in France and became a leading apprentice. He secured his first win on May 6, 2004, at Longchamp on Chopyluz. Geroux married Kasey Spindler, whose father was a Chicago-based jockey, Louis Spindler. The couple have two children, Olivia and Celine. On May 23, 2018, Geroux became a U.S. citizen, taking the Oath of Allegiance at the naturalization ceremony in Louisville, Kentucky.

North American Career

Geroux came to the United States for the first time in early 2007, working with trainer Patrick Biancone for a few months before returning briefly to France. In the fall of 2007, Geroux returned to the United States with the intention of joining the Kentucky racing circuit. On the opening day at Keeneland, he suffered a serious fall, suffering a broken wrist and two fractured vertebrae. He recuperated in France for several months then returned to the States with Chicago as his home base. He enjoyed some success over the next years, finishing tenth in the Arlington jockey standings in 2010 and winning the 2011 Hawthorne meet. He earned his first stakes wins on Zoeling in the 2010 Leemat Stakes at

Presque Isle Downs Presque Isle Downs & Casino is a casino and horse racing track near Erie, Pennsylvania, owned and operated by Churchill Downs Inc. History The developer, MTR Gaming Group, broke ground in October 2005 for the new facility, which opened on February ...

. In 2010, Geroux changed agents to Doug Bredar and gradually climbed the jockey ranks in the Chicago area. In 2014, Geroux scored his first Grade I victory in the Breeders' Cup Sprint aboard Chicago-based

Work All Week Work All Week (foaled 9 March 2009) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist sprinter bred in Illinois, he has won twelve of his fifteen races. He has spent most of his career racing in the Mid-West winning races such as the Tex's Zin ...

. In 2015, Geroux relocated to Kentucky and was the leading rider at Kentucky Downs, where he won five races on two different days, and also led the Fair Grounds 2015-6 meet. He won the Arlington Million with

The Pizza Man The Pizza Man (foaled March 25, 2009) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won multiple stakes races including the Arlington Million in 2015 and the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes in 2016, becoming the first Illinois-bred horse to win either ...

and the

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf is a one-mile turf stakes race for thoroughbred fillies two years old. As its name implies, it is part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year-end championship for North American thoro ...

with Catch a Glimpse and the

Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint The Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint is a Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up. As its name implies, it is a part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year-end championship for North American ...

with

Mongolian Saturday Mongolian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Mongolia, a country in Asia * Mongolian people, or Mongols * Mongolia (1911–24), the government of Mongolia, 1911–1919 and 1921–1924 * Mongolian language * Mongolian alphabet * Mong ...

. Geroux had a career best year in 2016, with earnings of $17,690,013 and 217 wins, including two Grade I wins on I'm a Chatterbox. He picked up the mount on Gun Runner at the start of the year and rode him to a win in the

Louisiana Derby The Louisiana Derby is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Run in late March, the race is open to horses, age three, willing to race miles on the dirt. It currently o ...

and a third-place finish in the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-yea ...

. After the pair finished second in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, they capped the year with a win in the

Clark Handicap The Clark Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Among the oldest races in the United States, it was first run in 1875, the year the racetrack opened for business. C ...

. Another highlight was winning four graded races on Arlington Million Day: the Beverly D, Secretariat, American St. Leger and

Pucker Up ''Pucker Up'' is the second album by American disco act Lipps, Inc with Cynthia Johnson on lead vocals. The album was released in 1980 on Casablanca Records. The album contains the minor hit " How Long", a cover of the 1974 hit by Ace, reaching ...

. He earned his 1,000th North American win on December 29 aboard Mr. Misunderstood at the Fair Grounds. In 2017, Geroux was ranked in the top ten of North American jockeys. With Gun Runner, he won the Breeders' Cup Classic and four other stakes race, plus a second-place finish in the Dubai World Cup. "You ride a thousand horses a year, and this one, there's just something special," said Geroux of his connection in Gun Runner. "I'm not a true believer in that, but I do believe now." In 2021, Geroux rode

to a second-place finish in the

. However, Mandaloun was later elevated to winner after

Medina Spirit Medina Spirit (April 5, 2018 – December 6, 2021) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who finished first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified. He came second in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic and third in the 2021 Preaknes ...

was disqualified for a positive

betamethasone Betamethasone is a steroid medication. It is used for a number of diseases including rheumatic disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, skin diseases such as dermatitis and psoriasis, allergic conditions such as ...

test post-race.

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geroux, Florent 1986 births Living people French jockeys American jockeys People from Argentan Sportspeople from Orne