John R. Velazquez
"Johnny V" — Hall of Fame jockey, three Kentucky Derbies and the sport's all-time leading money earner.
Johnny R. Velazquez
John R. Velazquez was born on 24 November 1971 in Carolina, Puerto Rico, where he attended jockey school for a year and a half and won his first race on 3 January 1990 at El Nuevo Comandante racetrack. That year he moved to New York under the guidance of the great jockey Angel Cordero Jr., in whose house he lived — he has said he learned English watching The Little Mermaid with Cordero's daughter — and who became his agent in 1998.
He was North America's champion jockey by earnings in 2004 and 2005, winning the Eclipse Award both years and breaking Jerry Bailey's earnings record; he won the Belmont Stakes in 2007 on the filly Rags to Riches, the first filly to take the race since 1905, and the Kentucky Derby on Animal Kingdom in 2011, Always Dreaming in 2017 and Authentic in 2020. His fifteen Breeders' Cup wins began with Da Hoss's "greatest comeback since Lazarus" in the 1998 Mile, and he has taken the Kentucky Oaks, Metropolitan Handicap, Whitney, Pacific Classic, Dubai World Cup and Woodbine Mile.
Inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2012, he rode his 5,000th winner in 2013 and in 2014 became the leading money-earning jockey in the history of the sport. He chairs the board of the Jockeys' Guild, serves on the board of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, and lives in New York with his wife Leona O'Brien, daughter of the trainer Leo O'Brien, and their two children.
How the name is written
A born "Johnny" — that is what his birth certificate says — he rides as Velazquez without the accent, the form on every U.S. race card.
Sources
Facts in this profile are drawn from the Wikipedia article(s) linked below, consulted on 21 September 2026; the text is original. Wikipedia (English)
More people named Velasquez — Sports
- Cain Velasquez — Two-time UFC heavyweight champion and NCAA All-American wrestler.
- Julio Velázquez — Football manager — the youngest ever in Spain's Segunda División, later Villarreal, Alavés, Udinese and Levski Sofia.
- Nelson Velázquez — Major League outfielder — Cubs, Royals, Cardinals and Astros; 2021 Arizona Fall League MVP.
- Vince Velasquez — Major League pitcher — Astros, Phillies, Padres, White Sox, Pirates, Cubs — and Lotte Giants in Korea.
- Andrew Velazquez — "Squid" — Bronx-born infielder for the Rays, Indians, Orioles, Yankees, Angels and Royals; minor-league on-base record holder.
- Wilmer Velásquez — "El Matador" — all-time top scorer of the Honduran league with 196 goals and 12 titles with Olimpia.
- Juliana Velasquez — Judoka turned mixed martial artist; former Bellator women's flyweight world champion.
- Jorge Velásquez — Hall of Fame jockey — Alydar's rider in the great 1978 Triple Crown rivalry, Kentucky Derby winner on Pleasant Colony.
All 47 profiles and the pages about the name →
Profiles are compiled from public sources for general information. They are not affiliated with or endorsed by the people described. Corrections are welcome at carol@velasquez.info.
Carry the name? Get a @velasquez.info address.
Velasquez Email offers a permanent mailbox at velasquez.info to people who carry the surname — a small, deliberately limited service, every application read and approved by hand.
See Velasquez Email →