What is John R. Velazquez’s Net Worth?

John R. Velazquez is a Puerto Rican jockey who has a net worth of $14 million. Competing in Thoroughbred horse racing, John R. Velazquez has won multiple Breeders’ Cup and Triple Crown races, including the 2011, 2017, and 2020 Kentucky Derbies. Among his other career accomplishments, Velazquez twice won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey, and in 2014 became the all-time leading money earner in jockeying history.

Career Earnings

During his career, John Velazquez has earned over $470 million in purse winnings, the highest total in North American Thoroughbred racing history. That figure reflects the horses’ total earnings with Velazquez as rider—not his personal income—but jockeys typically earn 5–10% of the purse from winning races. This implies Velazquez’s personal career earnings could range from $20–40 million, before taxes and expenses. That makes him the highest-earning jockey in horse racing history.

(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Early Life

John R. Velazquez was born on November 24, 1971 in Carolina, Puerto Rico. As a youth, he learned to ride horses and attended a jockey school.

Thoroughbred Racing Career

At the age of 18 in early 1990, Velazquez won his first race, at El Nuevo Comandante racetrack in Puerto Rico. Later that year, he moved to New York and was mentored by preeminent Puerto Rican jockey Ángel Cordero Jr. Initially, Velazquez lived with Cordero, and reportedly learned to speak English by watching Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” with Cordero’s daughter. In the US in 1990, Velazquez won his first career stakes race: the Ticonderoga at Aqueduct Racetrack. The next year, he won his first graded stakes race, in the Ohio Derby. Velazquez continued to excel throughout the decade, winning the Turf Classic Invitational in 1995 and his first riding title at Aqueduct in 1996. In 1998, he won his first riding title at Saratoga and his first Breeders’ Cup race, the latter being a narrow comeback victory in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Velazquez won his second Breeders’ Cup race, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, in 2000. Also that year, he won his first Woodbine Mile in Toronto, Canada. Velazquez went on to have a memorable year in 2001, setting a Saratoga record with six wins in just one day, on September 3.

At Saratoga in 2004, Velazquez reached a milestone when he recorded his 3,000th career win.  Additionally, he set a Saratoga record with 65 winners that year. Concluding 2004 with 335 total wins, Velazquez was named the United States Champion Jockey by earnings and was given the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. He secured both titles again in 2005, when he won 65 stakes races and broke the national earnings record. Velazquez followed his huge year with a disappointing 2006, as serious injuries incurred from a fall at Keeneland Racetrack limited his races. He made a major comeback in 2007 to win the Belmont Stakes, the first Triple Crown victory of his career. Velazquez rode Rags to Riches in the race. Closing out the decade, he was given Santa Anita Park’s George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in recognition of his career and his personal character.

Riding Animal Kingdom, Velazquez won his first Kentucky Derby in 2011. With the same horse, he narrowly lost the subsequent Preakness Stakes. In 2012, aboard Union Rags, Velazquez won his second career Belmont Stakes, and also that year won the Breeders’ Cup Mile aboard Horse of the Year winner Wise Dan. He went on to be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Velazquez had another big year in 2013, when he won his 5,000th career race and became the all-time winningest rider at Saratoga. However, his year was curtailed in early November when he was thrown from his horse during Breeders’ Cup weekend. Velazquez came back strong in 2014, that year becoming the all-time leading money winner in jockeying history. He had his next big year in 2017, when he won his second Kentucky Derby and claimed two Breeders’ Cup victories. Velazquez won his third Kentucky Derby, aboard Authentic, in 2020. He also won his first Breeders’ Cup Classic that year. Although Velazquez rode Medina Spirit to victory in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, his win was vacated after the horse tested positive for steroids. He went on to win his first Preakness Stakes in 2023, aboard National Treasure.

Personal Life

With his wife Leona O’Brien, Velazquez has a daughter named Lerina and a son named Michael.