The 10 best jockeys in the world

• Nationality: New Zealander.
• Home base: Sydney

This New Zealander who plies his trade mostly in Australia is a phenomenon. McDonald, who turned 34 in January 2026, dominated the ranks of apprentices and then senior jockeys in his homeland, winning junior titles and two senior titles before the age of 20. McDonald was the first jockey in NZ to ride more than 200 winners in a season. He has landed 10 titles in the hugely competitive Sydney jockeys’ premiership, including the past eight in a row, and was the No.1 rider for Godolphin in Australia until his career hit a serious hurdle. McDonald was disqualified for 18 months in 2016 for profiting from a bet on one of his mounts. It cost him the retained role with Godolphin, but the good news for JMac fans is he returned to the saddle as good as ever. . Still at the peak of his powers.

• Nationality: English
• Home base: Britain

Has gone from strength to strength as the main jockey for legendary trainer Aidan O’Brien’s Ballydoyle operation. No matter where he is racing, Moore demands respect from rivals and rarely puts a foot wrong. Like many of these saddle superstars, Moore was born into a racing family, with his father a trainer and siblings Jamie, Joshua and Hayley all riders.

Moore has been champion jockey in Britain multiple times and collected most of the big races including four Epsom Derbies. But it has been his success around the world that puts him into the top echelon. In 2014 he even bounced back from disappointment in previous visits to win arguably Australia’s biggest two races: the Cox Plate (Adelaide) and the Melbourne Cup (Protectionist). But Moore has also won group 1 races in Ireland, Italy, Germany, the UK, France, the UAE, Japan, Hong Kong, Canada and the US.

• Nationality: French
• Home base: United States

Prat has been on a steady rise since permanently entering the ranks of riders in the United States in 2015. He has been in the top 11 in prizemoney won every year and was fifth on the list in 2021, second in 2022, and finally No.1 in 2024, with a superior strike rate to his rivals. Of course, Prat was a star rider before he arrived in America, winning the apprentices’ title there as well as group 1 races, and in the US he has already won the hallowed Kentucky Derby in 2019 aboard longshot Country House, which won the race after the wayward Maximum Security, which passed the post first, was disqualified for causing interference. Prat turns 35 in 2027 and his star is still on the rise.

• Nationality: Norwegian/British
• Home base: Britain

Buick is at the peak of his powers and has been destined for the top of the jockey ranks since a young age. His Scottish father Walter was champion jockey in Scandinavia eight times, while mother Maria was an outstanding equestrian rider in show jumping and dressage. Buick holds dual Danish-British citizenship and was sent to Britain early on and rode his first winner as a teen in 2006 at Salisbury. He was apprentice in the powerful Ian Balding stable before linking up with John Gosden and is now retained in Britain by the world’s most powerful stable Godolphin. A star of the sport.

• Nationality: Puerto Rican
• Home base: United States

Has been on a steady rise up the ranks but has really exploded in the past five years. At the Breeders’ Cup meeting in 2019, he landed four winners, headed by Vino Rosso in the $US6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. Ortiz’s younger brother Jose Ortiz is also a top jockey and has joned our top 10 jockeys list, while his uncle and grandfather were respected riders. Ortiz Jr plies his trade mainly in New York, and collected his first American Classic in the 2016 Belmont Stakes, aboard Creator. He has regularly racked up grade 1 victories since beginning his professional career in 2011.

• Nationality: Australian
• Home base: Hong Kong

Persistence has paid off for this world-class rider, who broke a long winning streak for Douglas Whyte to win the Hong Kong jockeys’ premiership in 2013-2014. He then upstaged the great Joao Moreira in a head-to-head battle to win the title again in 2017-2018 and repeated the dose in 2018-19 and 2019-20. He has now won nine HK titles in all, including the past five in a row.

Purton has been consistently among the top riders in the red-hot HK arena after rising through the ranks in Brisbane and then Sydney in the powerful Australian racing scene. Purton is now often called up during the big races in his homeland and competes ably with the best in the world. We always feel confident when Purton is atop the horse we have backed.

• Nationality: French
• Home base: Japan

The Frenchman has had such great success in Japan and demands inclusion. Japan racing is among the best in the world, reaping the rewards of long-term thinking which secured the best bloodlines available. It also helps when superstars such as Lemaire choose to ply their trade in the country.  We are always happy to have him steering anything we bet on in Japan or even Hong Kong. Lemaire is the leading jockey in Japan and has made a habit out of winning some of the biggest races in one of the sport’s toughest environments. It has taken a fair amount of grind, but he is starting to earn the recognition he deserves on the world stage. He continued his dominance in 2021, winning the JRA title for the fifth consecutive year. He bounced back to claim the title in 2023, 2024 and 2025 after missing out in 2022.

• Nationality: Puerto Rican
• Home base: United States

Jose Ortiz, who followed older brother Irad Ortiz jr into the US jockey ranks, is another graduate of the Escuela Vocacional Hípica in Puerto Rico which is one of the world’s premier jockey training academies. He has established himself as a dominant force on the North American circuit and international stage. Ortiz is renowned for his exceptional athleticism, soft hands and sharp tactical vision. He has amassed thousands of career victories and hundreds of millions in prizemoney. His resume includes triumphs in all three jewels of the US Triple Crown, including the Belmont Stakes (2017, 2026), the Preakness Stakes (2022), and his thrilling, career-defining victory in the Kentucky Derby in 2026 on Golden Tempo, on which he also won the Belmont Stakes. Ortiz boasts multiple Breeders’ Cup victories and high-profile international successes, including the Dubai World Cup in 2026 on Magnitude. At the peak of his powers.

• Nationality: Irish
• Home base: England

The Irishman is no stranger to controversy but we had to include him despite his chequered history.  Murphy copped a three-month ban in November 2020 after testing positive for cocaine at a meeting in France earlier in the year. His argument that he had not taken cocaine but had sex with a women who had taken the drug was accepted by the racing authorities in France. Nonetheless, Murphy was the champion flat rider in British racing for the second straight year and made it a hat-trick in 2021. He added a fourth title in 2024 and a fifth in 2025. Murphy can speak four languages and boasts Frankie Dettori as a mentor. He claimed his first group 1 win on Aclaim in the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp. Murphy was the first jockey to win three British flat jockey titles in a row since Brian Hughes completed the feat in 2014.

• Nationality: French
• Home base: France

Mickael Barzalona is celebrated for his tactical brilliance and composure on the global stage. He is famously the retained rider in France for the prestigious Aga Khan Studs, alongside associations with global racing powerhouses such as Godolphin. Barzalona has reached the heights again recently through an association with the world-class galloper Calandagan, which scored a strong of Group 1 victories including the Japan Cup. Barzalona hails from Avignon, has a deep racing family background and rose rapidly through the ranks under legendary trainer André Fabre. His legendary major wins include Europe’s most coveted prize, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, alongside the Epsom Derby, Dubai World Cup, Japan Cup, and marquee successes at the Breeders’ Cup in North America.

• Nationality: Puerto Rican
• Home base: United States

Gaffalione is among the top jockeys in North America by earnings. The third-generation rider’s ascent began with the 2015 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Apprentice, and he has since evolved into a perennial big-race threat. His elite status is defined by his tactical versatility and aggressive style. Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse frequently compares him to legend John Velazquez, noting his rare ability to win from the front end and as a patient, strong finisher. Gaffalione’s composure under pressure makes him a favourite for the world’s biggest stables.

• Nationality: Brazilian
• Home base: Hong Kong

“The Magic Man” is a Brazilian who has found incredible success in Asia, first in Singapore and then since heading to the racing mecca of Hong Kong, not to mention a hugely successful if short stint in Japan. On Friday, September 26, 2013, he rode eight winners from eight rides on the nine-race card at Kranji racecourse in Singapore. He comes from humble beginnings in Brazil but took Singapore by storm and was the punters’ pin-up boy in Hong Kong, where weight of support from Chinese gamblers made almost anything he was on among the favourites. He wanted a permanent switch to Japan but failed to secure a full-time Japan Racing Association licence, failing the notoriously difficult written exam. So it’s back to lighting up the tracks of Hong Kong and elsewhere for now, adding another HK jockeys’ title in 2020-21.