Mike Venezia Memorial Award

Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. was selected as the 2024 Mike Venezia Memorial Award recipient, the New York Racing Association said in a press release on Wednesday. The Louisiana native was chosen by a committee comprised of members of the Venezia family, representatives of The Jockeys' Guild and retired Eclipse Award-winning jockey Richard Migliore. Hernandez Jr. will be recognized at Saratoga Race Course on Friday, Aug. 23. The Mike Venezia Memorial Award is presented annually to a jockey who displays the extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship that personified Venezia, who died as...

Veteran jockey Junior Alvarado has been named the winner of the 2023 Mike Venezia Memorial Award. Alvarado, based this summer at Saratoga Race Course and the regular rider of GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Cody's Wish, was chosen by a committee comprised of members of the Venezia family, representatives of the Jockeys' Guild and retired Eclipse Award-winning jockey Richard Migliore. Alvarado will be recognized in a winner's circle ceremony at Saratoga Saturday. "The Venezia Memorial Award is about representing the sport we love so much in the best way...

Jockey Julien Leparoux as the winner of the 2022 Mike Venezia Memorial Award, NYRA announced Friday. He was chosen by a committee comprised of members of the Venezia family, representatives of The Jockeys' Guild and retired Eclipse Award-winning jockey Richard Migliore. Leparoux will be recognized in a winner's circle ceremony at Saratoga Aug. 12. The Mike Venezia Memorial Award is presented annually to a jockey who displays the extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship that personified Venezia, who died as the result of injuries suffered in a spill in 1988. Venezia, a...

Veteran jockey Deshawn Parker is the winner of the 2021 Mike Venezia Memorial Award, the New York Racing Association announced Thursday. Parker, based at Indiana Grand, was chosen in ballots cast by more than 350 professional jockeys at North American tracks. He outpolled a distinguished group of finalists including Junior Alvarado, Julien Leparoux, Scott Stevens and Gerard Melancon, and will be recognized in a special ceremony Thursday, Sept. 2 at Saratoga. Created in 1989, the Mike Venezia Memorial Award is awarded to a jockey who displays the extraordinary sportsmanship and...