David Cohen (jockey)

David Cohen
Occupation	Jockey
Born	(1984-10-29) October 29, 1984 (age 40) California
Children	2
Career winnings	$65 million (as of March 20, 2024)
Career wins	1,644 (as of March 20, 2024)[1]
Honors
2018 Comeback Jockey of the Year 2019 Oaklawn Champion Jockey Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (inducted 2022)

David Cohen (born October 29, 1984) is an American jockey.^[2] He won the 2018 Comeback Jockey of the Year Award,^[3] and was the 2019 Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort Champion Jockey. In 2022, he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. As of March 20, 2024, he had 1,644 career wins, and earnings of $65 million.^[1]

Personal

Cohen is Jewish and was born and raised in California, where he had his bar mitzvah, lived in Arcadia, California, then in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he graduated from Bonanza High School, and his hometown is New York.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]} His father, Morry Cohen, died of cancer.^[10] He had a fiancée, rider Maria Remedio (aka Maria Charles), and they have two children.^{[11][12][9][13]} In 2017 he was living in Louisville, Kentucky, with his fiancée, Ashley.^[10] He is 5 feet 6 inches tall, and weighs 115 pounds.^[13]

Career

Early career

Cohen was introduced to racing by his father, an owner and breeder in Southern California.^[13][9] He began riding professionally in 2004, at 19 years of age.^[13][9] On December 26, 2005, he won his first Grade 1 race on the opening-day program at Santa Anita Park.^[14]

In 2009, Cohen ranked 6th nationally in wins (288), and 24th in purse earnings ($7,357,326), competing in New York and the Mid-Atlantic.^[2][15] He had a 24% win percentage, and a 55% win-place-show percentage.^[1]

In 2010, he had purse earnings of $6,982,006, 28th-highest in the nation.^[2][1] On October 13, 2011, at 26 years of age he rode his 1,000th career winner.^[9] In 2012 he won the $1 million Travers Stakes (G1) for 3-year-olds at Saratoga Race Course aboard Golden Ticket.^[10][2] He then won riding titles at Delaware Park Racetrack and Parx Racing.^[10][16]

On February 1, 2014, he suffered a leg fracture.^[10][2] He was kicked by a horse at Aqueduct Racetrack which broke his lower right leg's tibia and fibula, and underwent major surgery in which doctors inserted a plate and six screws in his leg.^[10][17][7]

Recent career

Cohen returned to racing on November 30, 2017, at Fair Grounds Race Course, following an absence of over three years during which time he rehabbed.^{[2][17][15][18]}

In 2018 Cohen ranked 23rd nationally in purse earnings ($6,775,883).^[2][1] He was named 2018 Comeback Jockey of the Year by JockeyTalk360.com after amassing 114 victories.^[6][7][17]

In 2019 Cohen won 75 races at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort in Arkansas to end Ricardo Santana Jr.’s six-year reign as leading rider.^[7][17][2] Cohen ranked second to Santana in purse earnings in 2019 at Oaklawn ($2,580,456).^[2] Among his highlights in 2020 were riding Selflessly to victory in the Lake George Stakes (G3) at Saratoga, and winning the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) aboard Keepmeinmind at Churchill Downs.^[7][2]

In 2021, at the Kentucky Derby he finished 7th aboard 50-1 shot Keepmeinmind.^[19][20][7] In 2022, he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.^[21][22]

As of March 20, 2024, he had 1,644 career wins, and earnings of $65 million.^[1]

References

1. "Equibase profile". Equibase.
2. "David Cohen". Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort.
3. Release, Press (December 11, 2018). "David Cohen Named 2018 Comeback Jockey Of The Year". Paulick Report | Shining Light on the Horse Industry. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
4. Tim McManus (August 11, 2010). "A risk worth taking for jockey David Cohen". The Post Star.
5. Schuelein, Steve (October 14, 2004). "Cohen Jockeys for Position in Racing". Jewish Journal.
6. Mike Brunker (December 13, 2018). "David Cohen returns to Las Vegas for Comeback Jockey of the Year Award". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
7. Charry, Rob (April 29, 2021). "David Cohen is a longshot to become the 1st Jewish jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. But he's beaten long odds before". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
8. Louis, Billy Jean (May 14, 2021). "Despite once dominating the sport of horse racing, there will be no Black jockeys at Saturday's Preakness". The Baltimore Sun.
9. "Cohen Rides 1,000th Career Winner," Bloodhorse, October 13, 2011.
10. "Jockey David Cohen Back After Three-Year Hiatus", Bloodhorse, December 1, 2017.
11. "Female Jockey News 02/04/10". Female Jockeys.com.
12. Jay Privman (August 8, 2011). "Saratoga: Pletcher fillies tune up for stakes". drf.com.
13. Josh Nathan-Kazis (November 17, 2009). "It's Off to the Races With a Jockey Named Cohen". The Forward.
14. Steve Andersen (December 27, 2005). "Malibu biggest win yet for whole gang". drf.com.
15. Rees, Jennie (June 12, 2019). "Ellis Park jockey colony adds four new members: Geroux, Baze, Cohen and Sutherland". Courier & Press.
16. Fitzgerald, Chris (August 11, 2010). "Cohen happy with competition at Saratoga meet". The Saratogian.
17. Russell, Shannon (April 27, 2021). "Kentucky Derby 2021: Meet the jockeys who will be riding in the 147th Run for the Roses". The Courier-Journal.
18. Finley, Bill (April 13, 2018). "Rejuvenated and Healthy, Cohen Set to Return to New York". Thoroughbred Daily News.
19. Rob Charry (April 30, 2021). "David Cohen could become the 1st Jewish jockey to win the Kentucky Derby". The Jerusalem Post.
20. Charry, Rob (March 15, 2024). "Jewish Hall-of-Fame jockey Walter Blum, who rode to victory in Belmont Stakes, dies at 89". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
21. Eric Sondheimer (June 21, 2022). "Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame to induct newest class". Los Angeles Times.
22. "Cohen Hard at Work on Churchill Downs Backstretch," Churchill Downs, June 3, 2022.

External links

• Instagram account
• J. Keeler Johnson (April 27, 2021). "Kentucky Derby jockey profile: David Cohen," TwinSpires.