Jockey Ry Eikleberry said he plans to retire from race riding following the closing night card Saturday at Canterbury Park. Eikleberry enters Saturday with 2,786 wins from 15,968 starts. He has mount earnings of more than $48 million. He won for the first time in 2005 at Arapahoe Park. “It’s been a long, good career, and to be honest, I’m just ready for a change,” Eikleberry said Saturday. “Although it’s been good, my body is not exactly made for the sport long term.” Eikleberry, a 33-year-old native of Phoenix, is tall for a rider at 5 feet, 9 inches. :: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now! “Most guys being my size would only make it a couple of years,” he said. “I’m most proud of my discipline. I think that and I’d say I’m most proud of the fact that I always gave it my all every race. I think I can hang my hat on that.” Eikleberry hails from a racing family. His great grandfather and grandfather were trainers, and his father, Kevin Eikleberry, is an active trainer. It’s a route Eikleberry will not be following in the immediate future. He said another reason for retirement is a recent opportunity that has come his way. He said he has accepted a position with a company that makes explosives sold to mines. He will be training for two years with the company, Dyno Nobel, beginning in South Carolina. In time, Eikleberry said, he will be managing a plant. “It’s a good-paying job with full benefits,” he said. Eikleberry has won more than 160 stakes races. He was a regular rider on Forest Mouse, a top handicap horse in New Mexico who earned more than $1 million. Eikleberry rode Sleepy Eyes Todd in his runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic in 2021. Eikleberry had previously won a Remington Park stakes aboard Sleepy Eyes Todd.    This meet at Canterbury, Eikleberry has won both the Minnesota Derby and Minnesota Sprint Championship aboard Love the Nest. He’s also won stakes this meet with Charlie’s Penny and Ready to Runaway. Earlier this year, Eikleberry won a Sam Houston stakes with Greeley and Ben. The rider will be aboard Blackteca in the Shakopee Juvenile on the closing night card Saturday at Canterbury.  Soon afterward, Eikleberry will call it a career. “It just feels like time,” he said. “It’s been a great career, given me a leg up on the rest of life.” Eikleberry is married and has two children, ages 5 and 8.