Johnathan Parkes (1988 – 18 October 2024) was a New Zealand

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

. Over a two-decade racing career, Parkes rode over 1,000 winners who earned over $19 million AUD in prize money. Parkes had 62 black type wins, including 12 Group 1 races.

Life and career

Parkes was from

Whanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whanganui is ...

. Parkes made his racing debut on 29 July 2004 aboard Harry D'akbar (NZ). He had his first win two days later on 31 July aboard Blissful Dancer (NZ). He first began riding for trainer Grant Searle in

Horowhenua Horowhenua District is a territorial authority district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, administered by Horowhenua District Council. Located north of Wellington and Kāpiti, it stretches from slightly north of the town of ...

, later transferring to Paul Belsham to be closer to his hometown. He later met trainer Fraser Auret who he would ride for over 600 times. The pair would later share a number of significant career successes, among them the Grade 1 Windsor Park Plate (1600m) and Grade 1 Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) aboard Julinsky Prince. Parkes was known as a talented rider, but would struggle with weight issues throughout his career. In 2013, Parkes won his first Grade 1 race, the 2013

Spring Classic The Livamol Classic is a weight-for-age Thoroughbred horse race run at Hastings Racecourse in Hawke's Bay and was at one stage New Zealand, New Zealand's richest horse race. It is run at a distance of . The race is run in October. The weather in t ...

aboard Ransomed. In the 2013–2014 racing season, he reached second on the New Zealand jockey premiership leaderboard. In 2018, Parkes again finished second on the New Zealand jockey premiership leaderboard with 118 wins. After riding over 100 winners during the 2018–2019 race season, Parkes began to take on fewer rides, reportedly in an effort to preserve his mental and physical health after continually wasting to maintain riding weight. In March 2021, he rode I Wish I Win in his debut race, a win at Awapuni. In May he broke his collarbone in a fall and had to take several weeks off of racing. In 2022, he won the 2022 New Zealand Derby aboard

Asterix ''Asterix'' ( or , "Asterix the Gauls, Gaul"; also known as ''Asterix and Obelix'' in some adaptations or ''The Adventures of Asterix'') is a Franco-Belgian comics, French comic album book series, series about a Gaulish village which, thanks ...

. During the 2022 – 2023 race season, Parkes took a six-month break from racing, relaxing and riding trackwork. Returning in April 2023, he stated his goal of riding 1,000 winners. In May 2023, he recorded his 1,000th win aboard Fabian Hawk at Awapuni racecourse. In doing so he became the 36th jockey from New Zealand to record 1,000 race wins. Over a twenty-year racing career, he would start 8,245 times, winning 1,043 races. Parkes made his final race on 7 September 2024 at Hastings aboard Geriatrix. Parkes died on 18 October 2024, at the age of 35.

Race record

References

External links

Johnathan Parkes
at Loveracing.nz 1980s births Year of birth uncertain 2024 deaths New Zealand jockeys Oceanian horse racing biography stubs Sportspeople from Whanganui 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen {{NewZealand-horseracing-bio-stub

Life and career

Race record

See also

References

External links