Having looked at the great jockeys in this column of September 25, going back to 1938, for those who may not be aware, it was determined that, in chronological order, Reggie McKenzie, Arthur Jones, Trevor McKenzie, Winston Ellis and George HoSang met the criteria for all-time great reinsmen comfortably in all respects.
Extraordinarily, an era of outstanding masters of the pigskin emerged with Charles Hussey winning his first of three titles in 1976, followed by Winston Griffiths in ‘78, ‘79, ‘80 and ‘81. Emilio Rodriguez in 1982 put the brakes on the Griffiths series, shared the next four with Hubert Bartley and, by the end of the eighties, with Joe Buchanan, Trevor Simpson and Andrew Ramgeet, unquestionably, the golden generation emerged.
Almost unbelievably, the final decade of the twentieth century was most interesting, as this is what unfolded. Hubert Bartley added the 1991 title to those of ‘83 and ‘86, with Ramgeet following up the 1990 success with titles in ‘96 and ‘99. Trevor Simpson, eventual five-time champion, added 1992 to his first in ’89, whilst Joe Buchanan’s ’88 feat was repeated in ‘93.
Percival Williams was champion in ’94, Griffiths was back for his fifth in ’95 with Wesley Henry taking the ’97 title. Remarkably, Charles Hussey’s third was secured in ’98, 22 years after his 1976 triumph and, incredibly, Shane Ellis, son of the acclaimed Winston Ellis and clearly a special talent, closed the final decade of the twentieth century claiming the 2000 accolade for the first of two.
In 2001, Hussey took his fourth and final title. Simpson’s ‘02, ’03 and ’04 exploits is the stuff of which legends are based, with a record 571 mounts yielding a season record of 172 winners, the likes of which may never be replicated, achieved in ‘02. The rest of the opening decade of the 21st century saw Trinidadian Brian Harding taking the ’05 and ’06 versions. Omar Walker closed out this decade with championships in ‘07 to ’10.
Following Jose Bravo’s joint success with Richard DePass in 1970 and Harding’s ’05 and ’06 triumphs, in securing the 2011 crown, Panamanian Dick Cardenas became the second native of his country and the third non-Jamaican citizen to have achieved this distinction and got the second 21st-century decade underway.
Dane Nelson, a man who dubbed himself “The Warrior Chief” and one of the most colourful and articulate reinsmen in history, rode 124 winners from 487 mounts to win his first title in 2012. Then cemented himself as the best of the colony’s cohort, adding the ’13 and ‘14 titles for good measure.
In 2015, sixteen years later, Shane Ellis added a second to his 2000 success, and the indomitable Omar Walker won his fifth and sixth titles in ’16 and ’17 respectively. Anthony Thomas secured the first of his three in 2018, whilst the tactically clever and athletic Christopher Mamdeen got into history in ’19.
Although electing to move his tack to Canada and holidaying in Jamaica during the North American winters from 2015, Nelson was back full time in Jamaica in 2020 and shared the title with Anthony Thomas, who has since moved on to riding winners in Florida, with 84 winners each to close the second decade.
We are now almost six years into the third decade of the 21st century and witnessing the emergence of Dane Dawkins, 2022 champion, Reyan Lewis ’23, and Raddesh Roman ’24 and ’25. Then there is current leader Tevin Foster, whose 132-win tally was only one less than that of Roman in 2024. Time will tell if these promising reinsmen join the legends of the past.
However, horseracing this side of the Atlantic faces an existential threat due to underinvestment in the breeding industry. In the USA and Canada, the forecast is that the breeding sheds will deliver 1,000 and 100 fewer foals in these jurisdictions, respectively, in 2026. As things stand, regarding the local scenario, I have no figures as of yet to reach any credible conclusion.
