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Q&A With Jockey Jaime Torres: Continuing Lukas’ Legacy
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- Q&A With Jockey Jaime Torres: Continuing Lukas’ Legacy
Q&A With Jockey Jaime Torres: Continuing Lukas’ Legacy
Fresh off his first Kentucky Derby mount, Paulick Report intern Kaitlyn Hill caught up with Preakness-winning jockey Jaime Torres at Churchill Downs this week. Check out their conversation involving career milestones, memorable horses and people along the way, and what it takes to compete at the sport's highest level.
Kaitlyn Hill:"I would like to start by saying congratulations on your first Derby mount, that had to be super special, and I was gonna ask if you could just describe the feeling of that, because you've been in a triple crown race with Seize the Grey in the Preakness, but getting to experience the Derby and the walk over, getting to the gate, how did that feel?"
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Jaime Torres:"It was very special just to be there, and to be able to have my family there to enjoy it with me. And with Riley [Mott] and the owners, they're just such great people. They're very down-to-earth, and they show you they're very thankful for whatever I have done. I think it's the opposite; I feel I'm super thankful for them just giving me the opportunity because I don't have the experience other jockeys have. And the thing is, I had two Derby mounts."
KH:"Was it hard to choose one?"
JT:"No, it wasn't hard, because I always thought I was gonna keep Incredibolt. All his races have been with me. I feel like I know him much better, and if you look at the pedigree, he was the choice for me."
KH:"Puerto Rico has produced some of the greatest jockeys around, and you didn't start riding until you went to the jockey school. Was it very intimidating going to the school and not knowing how to ride, as well as not being from a racing family?"
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JT:"Yeah, it really was. I was still in college, and I had one more year to graduate as a personal trainer. My family didn't know anything about horse racing, so it was a radical change in direction. When I found out about horse racing, I wasn't thinking we were gonna get paid a lot of money for doing it, but I just loved horses. I used to do track and field, like running, racing, whoever gets first to the wire wins. I really wanted to do that."
KH:"You came to the US in 2022, and then when you went up to New York, you had the help of Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero Jr. When you came to Kentucky, you had Hall of Famer Gary Stevens. How did those two really help you in your career?
JT:"It helped me a lot. I stayed with both of them in the same house. After races I was able to put the replays on or watch racing on days off from other tracks. And they would tell me, 'Hey, look at this rider, that was a good decision that he made there.' So yeah, watching their replays of their races and their advice helped me a lot."
KH:"And I am sure they helped with networking as well."
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JT:"I got the mount on Seize the Grey thanks to Cordero. I didn't know much about horse racing but of course Wayne Lukas, he was a legend. Everyone knew him. I remember Angel saying, 'You wanna see Wayne?' I was like of course! Wayne received me and was so humble and very nice. Angel told me, 'Show him some replays of you.' A couple days after that, I just saw the entries and that I was riding for him, but I didn't pay attention that it was for MyRacehorse. The first Derby I saw live was Authentic in 2020, and he was MyRacehorse. So when I saw the silks in my locker room I thought, 'Oh my, it's not only for D. Wayne, it's for MyRacehorse.'"
KH:"D. Wayne Lucas showed a lot of loyalty to keep you on Seize the Grey for the Preakness, because obviously he was getting a lot of calls from other jockeys for the mount. What did that mean to you, for him to stick with you? What did his involvement in your career mean to you, especially now that he is no longer here?"
JT:"It meant a lot to me, but also a lot more, as a person off the track, and the way I should handle things. The opening week of the year that we rode in the Pat Day Mile, I rode a race for him. It was a mile and a quarter, and the horse was a difficult horse. He was not pleased with the ride I gave him, and he was very tough on me. Of course, I wasn't happy about it. But my agent came to me and he said, 'We have to talk to him, you gotta go there, even if you feel or not that it was your fault, you have to still go and talk to him, and apologize.' And so I did. I went to the barn a couple days later and apologized to him. At that time I was working most of the horses in his barn, because I really wanted to ride Seize the Grey. Since I didn't go with him to Oaklawn, I lost a lot of the horses I was riding for him, because there were other people working for him in the morning, and they deserve the mount. So I decided that if I had to work my ass off to ride Seize the Grey, I would do it. After working for Wayne a lot, he was fine with me. He said, 'Don't worry, just keep trying with all my horses,' and I told him, 'Yeah ok, no worries.' I think that gave him…the way I went there, put my hand down and apologized, I think that's what made him take me back."
"After we won the Pat Day Mile, I went to talk to him. I said, 'Hey, I remember the words you gave me last week.' He asked me right there, 'Do you want to come with me to the Preakness?' And I was like, 'What?! Okay, let's go!' From the beginning, my first mount for Wayne was that horse. We won at Saratoga and that made it special, and then coming here, winning my first graded stakes. He was so special to me."
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KH:"The fact that it was both the horse and your first Grade 2 and Grade 1 win was super special. So, I heard you have a picture of Seize the Grey in your house?"
JT:"I have a lot of them. In the whole house, I have the Preakness, I have the race at Belmont, and the maiden special weight. I have those three."
KH:"Looking back on it, what was so special about Grey to you? Did you have a personal connection with him?"
JT:"Definitely. People who have never gotten on a horse or don't know much about racing maybe wouldn't understand what that connection meant. I just felt like I knew everything about him and what he was feeling. If he was feeling happy that day, if he was not happy, if he was comfortable with the track, if he was not. In races, I could feel from him when we were going slow or too fast. There was an understanding, a communication between the two of us. And he was very easy to ride. You could sit there at the wire, waiting for a good spot to start galloping, and he would patiently sit there all day.
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KH:"You've had a lot of success in just a few short years. How was it coming over to the U.S.? And then, English being your second language, getting the attention of the media very soon, and having to handle that only two years into your career?"
JT:"My girlfriend is American. She speaks English and that helped me a lot with communicating. I also watch a lot of sports, and I watch their interviews and how they speak. I also learned from the other jockeys; I host Johnny and Franco, and I tried to learn a little bit from them. I'm still learning."
KH:"Speaking of Manny Franco and Johnny V, and all those jockeys, you said before that when you came here you didn't really feel like you belonged in a room with all those people. Do you feel like you belong more now or do you feel like you're still getting there?
JT:"I don't wanna say I feel like I belong. I'm very grateful and thankful to be in the spot that I am, but sometimes I get a little bit down because it's tough. To win a race here, it can be very tough. I try to learn a lot from the jock's room. I can hear them when they come back from the race, and watch the replays. They talk to each other about what happened, this horse did this, I shouldn't do this, this and that. I've been to other smaller tracks, and I feel here at Churchill, there is not any envy in the jock's room; they have respect. I like that."
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KH:"You are having a lot of success with Riley Mott and rode your first derby on his horse, Incredibolt. How did that relationship begin? And how is your relationship with him?"
JT:"My girlfriend used to gallop for Bill Mott for three years. And there were times that I wasn't riding for a few days, so I took the time to fly down to Florida, because we were together, but we were not close. During holidays or time off, I would fly there and just go in the morning to see her galloping horses. Standing at the rail to watch her gallop horses, Bill used to stop in front of me with the pony and talk to me. Not long after I started riding for Bill, I won for him in the first mount he gave me in a race. We had a lot of success together, and that's how I came to work with Riley as well."
KH:"After your big wins, and openly with the media, you talk a lot about your faith, faith in God. Where does your strong faith come from, and how does it keep you grounded with all this sudden success?"
JT:"For as long as I can remember, my parents were religious, and that passed on to me. I always go to church and follow God. It really helps a lot. This is not an easy sport, and it can get tough at times. Wins only come every once in a while, and I have had so many situations where I could have hurt myself badly. I feel like he takes care of me. My mom passed away when I was 20, and that was very tough. She knew I had gotten accepted to the school, and knew what I had decided to do. I was always going to the track to watch the horses, and that was my goal. She was always saying, 'You can do it.' She never saw me get my license. I feel like she's in heaven watching over me. Maybe nudging God on the shoulder, 'Hey, please help my kid.'"
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KH:"Thank you so much for talking to me today."
JT:"Of course."
This story was originally published by Paulick Report on May 29, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
