Emma-Jayne Wilson is going into horse racing’s record book.
The longtime Woodbine Racetrack jockey surpassed Hall of Famer Julie Krone for all-time purse earnings by a female jockey on Thursday at the Toronto track.
Entering the day just $11,042 shy of Krone’s US$90,126,584 record, Wilson set the mark with a thrilling victory aboard first-time starter Perfect Lady Bee.
“To capitalize and break this record with a win for these connections, you couldn’t have written a storybook any better,” said Wilson. “I’m trying really hard not to show too much emotion. I’m so used to putting my emotions in the backseat to ride races and be completely focused one race to the next, but this one means so much to me.”
Krone became the first woman inducted to the National Museum of Racing of Hall of Fame in 2000. She has kept in touch with Wilson over the years.
“Somehow I had seen her riding and I just like sent her a compliment or something, and then that perpetuated into calling her,” said Krone. “We ended up talking about really cool things … about our love for horses, of course, but then we started talking about some of the adversity she was up against at the time. I told her she was such a good rider, and that her horsemanship will always take her through any challenges.
“She’s a great female jockey, but the way I see it, she’s a great jockey, period.”
Wilson, a 42-year-old native of Brampton, Ont., started her career in 2004 and became Woodbine’s leading rider in 2005 as an apprentice.
Wilson won both the Sovereign and Eclipse as outstanding apprentice jockey in 2005 and captured both the Woodbine title and a second Sovereign as outstanding apprentice in 2006.
In 2007, Wilson became the first woman rider to win the Queen’s Plate aboard Mike Fox.
Over the course of her career, Wilson has 1,903 wins, 129 stakes win and 39 graded stakes win.