Julien Leparoux

Julien R. Leparoux (born July 15, 1983 in Senlis, Oise, France) is a French Eclipse Award winning jockey currently racing in the United States. He has won seven Breeders' Cup races, including the 2015 Breeders' Cup Mile with Champion Turf Mare Tepin and the 2016 Breeders' Cup Juvenile with Classic Empire.

Leparoux grew up in a racing family, the son of Robert Leparoux, a jockey turned assistant trainer. He worked at the Chantilly Racecourse as a stable hand and in January 2003 emigrated to California to work as an exercise rider for fellow Frenchman, trainer Patrick Biancone. In 2005, he became an apprentice jockey.

Leparoux is known as a finesse rider. "I just try not to fight so much with my horses," he said in a 2012 interview. "I try to be gentle around their mouths."

In December 2012, Julien married Shea Mitchell who, like Julien, is the child of a racehorse trainer. During one of the races that Shea attended, Julien fell off and broke his hand. Later that week, Shea tweeted at Julien a simple "I hope you're ok". Not long after, they got married. Shea tweeted a picture of Julien and her father with the caption "2007, when Julien rode On the Acorn for dad. He probably never guessed he was looking @ his future son in law". On September 24, 2015, their first son, Mitchell Leparoux, was born. At only 4 days old, Mitchell was out at Keeneland watching his dad warm up horses in the early morning and racing during the day!

Leparoux embarked on his professional riding career in the summer of 2005 at Saratoga Race Course where he earned his first win on July 26 on Easter Guardian. He finished the Saratoga meet with 28 wins, the most in track history by an apprentice. In 2006 he was also the leading winning jockey during the Turfway Park winter/spring meet, Churchill Downs spring/summer meet, and Keeneland Race Course spring meet (where he tied with Rafael Bejarano).

For 2006, Julien Leparoux won 403 races to lead all jockeys in the United States. His total wins and earnings of $12,491,316 for the year were the most by an apprentice jockey in racing history. He was voted the 2006 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey. He was also the subject of the Eclipse Award-winning photograph, which showed him being unseated when the filly Sanibel Storm ducked into the rail in the stretch at Keeneland. Leparoux somersaulted over her head and landed in the infield: both he and the filly were unhurt.

Leparoux "lost the bug" in September 2006, referring to the five-pound weight allowance an apprentice (bug) jockey is given. Despite this, Leparoux continued winning riding titles, including Turfway's winter/spring meet, Keeneland's spring meet and Churchill Downs' spring/summer meet. On June 27, 2007, Leparoux became only the fifth jockey in the 133-year history of Churchill Downs to ride six winners on a single card.

On November 11, 2008 he rode seven winners on a single racecard at Churchill Downs, tying a twenty-four-year-old record set by Pat Day on June 20, 1984.