Being an apprentice jockey is an enormous challenge – try learning a physically and mentally strenuous sport ride by ride while also adhering to a strict diet and exercise regimen. At the same time, make sure you establish a foothold in an industry that relies more than anything on building long-lasting personal relationships. Not easy!

Yet a select group of ambitious young athletes join the apprentice ranks every year. Apprentices receive a weight concession for a period of time in all races aside from stakes to help them get riding assignments, and the best ones each year are nominated to receive the Eclipse Award as Outstanding Apprentice Jockey.

Erik Asmussen, son of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, won the Eclipse as outstanding apprentice rider for 2024. Let’s check in on how the previous five winners are doing after they lost the “bug” (weight allowance) and became professional jockeys.

2023: Axel Concepcion

A native of Puerto Rico, Concepcion made a big splash as an 18-year-old during his Eclipse season, finishing first in wins at Laurel Park’s spring 2023 meet and second in wins and earnings at Turfway Park’s December meet. He earned his first graded stakes win in 2024 at Keeneland after becoming a journeyman rider and is now established at Fair Grounds where he’s currently ranked 10^th in wins and eighth by purse earnings (through March 5).

2022: Jose Antonio Gomez

Gomez, a Michigan native, was mentored by Hall of Fame rider Angel Cordero Jr. in his breakout year and won the Eclipse Award while primarily competing on the toughest circuit in North America – NYRA tracks Aqueduct, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course. Gomez has remained in New York after turning professional; currently, he’s ranked 12^th in wins and 13^th by purse earnings during Aqueduct’s winter meet. 

2021: Jessica Pyfer

Pyfer, the stepdaughter of California-based trainer Phil D’Amato, established herself as an up-and-coming rider at top-line tracks such as Santa Anita Park and Del Mar. She finished 2021 as the leading earner among all North America-based apprentice jockeys and was second in wins, topped by a four-win day at Santa Anita in May of that year. Those credentials helped Pyfer become the third female jockey to win the Eclipse as an apprentice, joining Rosemary Homeister Jr. (1992) and Emma-Jayne Wilson (2005). In 2023, Pyfer retired from riding to become a television analyst for 1/ST at Santa Anita Park.

2020: Alexander Crispin

Crispin graduated from his home country of Puerto Rico’s Escuela Vocacional Hipica jockey school in 2019 and a year later was in the U.S. riding winners starting in Kentucky and Indiana and then moving to the Mid-Atlantic circuit where he had the most success. He’s remained there since, and finished ninth in both wins and earnings among jockeys during Delaware Park’s 2024 meet.

2019: Kazushi Kimura

Since moving to North America from Japan in 2018, Kimura has built a reputation as a strong, skillful rider on multiple circuits. He emerged in 2019 at Woodbine in Toronto, where as an apprentice he finished third in wins competing among a high-quality jockey colony. After winning the Eclipse Award and then graduating to journeyman rider, Kimura won three consecutive jockey titles at his home track from 2021-’23 while taking trips to Southern California while Woodbine was not racing. He relocated permanently to the SoCal circuit in 2024 and is on schedule to return this month from an injury suffered in January.