Jockey Richard Migliore, a fixture on The New York Racing Association, Inc.
(NYRA) circuit for three decades, today announced his retirement after doctors
told him he could no longer ride.
Migliore, 46, initially injured
his neck in a spill at Aqueduct Racetrack on January 23, and last month
underwent surgery to fuse several vertebrae in his neck and spine. Although he
had hoped to make a comeback, Migliore said he was informed last week he would
never be able to ride safely again.
“My career as a jockey is over
but not by choice,” Migliore said during an emotional news conference at
Belmont
Park prior to the draw of
Saturday’s 142nd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes.
“I still held out hope until last Wednesday. Racing and horses have been so good
to me, it was hard to let go.”
Migliore, who grew up on
Long Island, got a job on a horse farm near his
home and decided to be a jockey at age 12. He began riding in 1980, and in 1981
won the Eclipse Award as the nation’s top apprentice with 298 victories. Twice
the leading rider in New York – in 1981 and 1985 – Migliore won or tied as
leading rider at 10 different NYRA meets, most recently taking the 2005 Aqueduct
Spring Meet.
“The Mig,” as he was known, never
won a Triple Crown race, but throughout the course of his career rode 4,450
winners of more than $160 million. Some of his biggest victories came later in
his career, taking his first Breeders’ Cup race in 2008 aboard Turf Sprint winner
Desert Code, and last year
capturing the Grade 1 Gazelle and Grade 1 Test aboard Flashing. In all, he won
362 stakes, including 25 Grade 1 races.
“I’m so fortunate to start my
career here at Belmont Park, the Taj Mahal of American racing, and to finish
it on the big stage in New
York,” said Migliore. “I’m very appreciative of the
opportunities I was given and all the people that let me ride their great
horses.”
Thanking his wife, Carmela, and
acknowledging the support of his four children, Joseph, Philip, Luciano, and
Gabrielle, Migliore said he has yet not made any decision on his future.
“Everything good in my life has
come from horses,” he said. “And the biggest thing is I feel gratitude that I
was able to live my dream.”