Lanerie rides 5,000th winner

Corey Lanerie earned the 5,000th win of his riding career on Wednesday at Keeneland, piloting I Feel the Need to a 3 1/2-length victory in a claiming race for trainer Chris Hartman.

Lanerie, 48, is the 38th North American jockey to reach the milestone. He had to wait a few weeks to join the club, after notching win No. 4,999 on Oct. 1 at Churchill Downs.

“It’s beautiful,” said Lanerie, who grew up in Lafayette, La., and is currently a resident of Louisville, Ky. “I have been waiting a long time and it seems like I got right on it and I could never get over the hump, but today we got over the hump and hopefully we keep rolling.”

Lanerie began riding in 1991. His mounts have earned just under $160 million.

Lanerie's career highlights include 66 graded stakes wins, including Grade 1 wins in the 2009 Ashland on Hooh Why, the 2015 La Troienne on Molly Morgan, the 2015 Breeders' Futurity on Brody's Cause, the 2016 Ashland on Weep No More, the 2017 Ashland on Sailor's Valentin, the 2019 Woody Stephens on Hog Creek Hustle, and the 2020 Derby City Distaff on Bell's the One.

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“A lot of hard work, and the first thing that crosses your mind is everybody in the past who helped you get there from when I started – the people who taught me how to ride – and all my family and friends that supported me the whole time, all the owners and trainers that stood by me, the horses that ran for me," Lanerie said. "I was just so blessed to have a career like this. People, including myself, just dream of a career like this, and I was able to fulfill it and do what I’ve had so much passion about since I was three years old.

“All I wanted to be was a jockey. God blessed me with enough talent to be able to do it as a career. I can’t thank him enough."

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