Jockey Salaries: How Much Do Jockeys Really Earn?

Jockeys must be rich, right? After all, the likes of Detroit Frankie, a well-known Jockey, compete in races of value over £300 thousand frequently. Moore Ryan, another excellent rider jets worldwide to contest in one of the biggest horse races.

Yes, there are a couple of big-shot Jockeys, but trust us it’s a different story for most average jockeys out there. Perhaps, you assume Jockeys are in the same earning class as other sportsmen that can boast of hundreds of thousands of dollars per week, think again. So how much do jockeys really earn? If you want to find out, read on.

An overview.

Unlike big-time athletes in football, soccer, cricket, etc., jockeys are technically self-employed. Although, some of them have contracts with trainers, who pay them a salary to ride horses for a fixed period. Apart from this scenario, most riders only earn a fixed payment based on each race they compete in.

So what’s the pay like? It’s called riding fees, and a rider gets around £165 per jump race, while flat races leave a jockey with about £120 per ride. If you open horse racing cards and you see a jockey’s name frequently, he’s probably booked for many rides on the same day. Give or take, such Jockey could earn around a thousand pounds at the racecourse in one day.

You might want to cool your jets because that’s not his take home. The £1000 usually welcomes a couple of deductions, such as agent’s fee(10%) and Professional Jockeys Association or rider union fees (3%). There’s more. The valet also has a piece of the cake, which is 10% of the jockey’s first ride, 7.5% from the second, and 5% from the third race.

It doesn’t end there. There’s also an insurance charge, physiotherapist fee, and racing bank charge. A quarter of the earning is already gone at this point. To put in a better perspective, the average Jockey can take around 216 rides annually. This can put the gross annual earning at £26,000 for a jump-rider.

On the other hand, a flat jockey rides more, which can put their annual earnings just a little above £27,000.

Prize-money

Another earning route through performance, which comes as a percentage of a race’s prize money. The pay ranges from 8 to 9% of the winning prize money for jumps and about 7% for flat races. This one isn’t devoid of deductions too. The jockey’s agent also gets 10%.

Sponsorship.

Some riders are lucky enough to earn extra pay from sponsorship deals. The earnings depend on the value of the sponsorship.

Expense.

You are not going to talk about earnings without touching expenses. At the end of the day, costs also affect income position. The greatest expense of a jockey is travel cost. The average rider competes in different world locations, which can reach about 60,000 miles per year.

So, how much is it?

A hot Jockey with a riding contract could earn hundreds of thousands yearly depending on the prize money, sponsorship deals, riding fees. On the other hand, most freelance riders earn relatively lower, which could be between £20,000- £30,000 per year.