Riding Career:
1974 - 2002
Career Wins:
7,141 (20.9%)
Significant Mounts
Alphabet Soup,
Alysheba, Danzig Connection, Desert Wine, Flawlessly, Go for Gin,
John Henry,
Lady's Secret, Paseana, Pine Bluff, Precisionist,
Sunday Silence, Tiznow, Touch Gold
Major Race Wins
Kentucky Oaks (1977, 1990, 2002)
Rancho Bernardo Handicap (1978, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1995, 1996, 1997)
Del Mar Futurity (1979, 1988, 1992, 1997)
Del Mar Handicap (1979, 1981, 1984, 1988, 1998, 2000)
Del Mar Oaks (1979, 1984, 1989, 1991)
San Bernardino Handicap (1980, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1997, 2002)
Del Mar Debutante Stakes (1980, 1981, 1984)
La Jolla Handicap (1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993)
Florida Derby (1981)
Eddie Read Handicap (1981)
Clement L. Hirsch Handicap (1981, 1988, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000)
San Felipe Stakes (1982, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1998)
Jockey Club Gold Cup (1982, 1993)
Bing Crosby Handicap (1982)
Palomar Breeders' Cup Handicap (1983)
Hollywood Gold Cup (1984)
Fantasy Stakes (1984, 1987, 1989, 1992)
Arlington Million (1984)
San Clemente Handicap (1984, 1985, 1991, 1994, 1995)
Breeders' Cup Sprint (1985)
Belmont Stakes (1986, 1997)
Woodward Stakes (1986, 1988)
Kentucky Derby (1987, 1994)
Preakness Stakes (1987, 1992)
Canadian International Stakes (1987)
Del Mar Breeders' Cup Mile (1987)
Santa Anita Handicap (1988, 1999, 2001)
Del Mar Breeders' Cup Mile (1988)
Japan Cup (1988)
Breeders' Cup Classic (1988)
Native Diver Handicap (1989, 1990, 1991, 1992)
Haskell Invitational Handicap (1989, 1997)
Breeders' Cup Classic (1989)
Santa Anita Derby (1991, 1996, 2000, 2002)
John C. Mabee Handicap (1992, 1993, 1994)
Palomar Breeders' Cup Handicap (1992)
Breeders' Cup Distaff (1992)
Breeders' Cup Juvenile (1992)
San Diego Handicap (1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999)
Del Mar Breeders' Cup Mile (1995)
Breeders' Cup Turf (1995)
Palomar Breeders' Cup Handicap (1996)
Breeders' Cup Classic (1996)
Palomar Breeders' Cup Handicap (1997)
Pacific Classic Stakes (1998)
Del Mar Breeders' Cup Mile (1998)
Breeders' Cup Classic (2000)
Breeders' Cup Classic (2001)
Awards / Honors
United States Champion Jockey by Wins (1974, 1975, 1980)
U.S. Champion Apprentice Jockey (1974)
George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award (1980)
United States Champion Jockey by Earnings (1980, 1981, 1984, 1991)
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey (1980)
United States' Racing Hall of Fame (1989)
Mike Venezia Memorial Award (1991)
Big Sport of Turfdom Award (1993)
Christopher John "Chris" McCarron is an American thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame retired jockey. He is currently working as a racing analyst for TVG Network.
He was introduced to the sport of thoroughbred racing by his older brother, jockey Gregg McCarron. Chris McCarron began riding professionally in 1974 at East Coast racetracks where he won the 1974 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey in the United States.
He moved to race in California in 1977, a year he scored his first of three wins in the Kentucky Oaks. In 1980 won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey as best overall jockey and that same year his peers voted him the prestigious George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. In 1991, he was voted the Mike Venezia Memorial Award for "extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship".
McCarron won nine Breeders' Cup races, including five Breeders' Cup Classics, and rode six winners in the U.S. Triple Crown Races.
In 1989 Chris McCarron was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. After twenty-eight years in racing he retired in June 2002. He finished as thoroughbred racing's all-time leader in purse earnings with more than $264 million in winnings.
In 2003, McCarron served as a technical advisor, racing designer and actor in the 2003 film Seabiscuit. That same year he was hired by Magna Entertainment Corp. to serve as Vice President and General Manager of Santa Anita Park. After resigning his job at Santa Anita in January 2005, in July McCarron announced he would be opening the first riding academy in the United States.
His school is scheduled to begin classes in December 2006 and will be located at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. Most industry insiders and observers consider such a school to be something that the American thoroughbred racing has long needed. McCarron told ESPN he plans to lobby the various racing commissions and other organizations to ensure that there are minimum requirements and standards set for jockeys.
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