About Mike E. Smith
Michael Earl Smith (born August 10, 1965) is an American jockey who has been one of the leading riders in U.S. Thoroughbred racing since the early 1990s, was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2003 and has won the most Breeders' Cup races of any jockey with 27 victories. Smith is also the third leading jockey of all time in earnings with over $356 million. In 2018, Smith rode Justify to the Triple Crown, becoming the oldest jockey to win the title at age 52. == Background == Smith was born to George Smith, a one-time jockey, and Vidoll Vallejos in New Mexico; his mother was 19 years old at the time. Smith's parents divorced when he was eight years old. Smith spent most of his youth on his maternal grandparents' horse farm where he began breaking horses at eight years old. Smith began riding races in his native New Mexico at age 11, and took out a jockey's license at age 16 in 1982. In the ninth grade, Smith dropped out of Dexter High School. Shortly thereafter, accompanied by his paternal grandfather, he began riding a Midwestern circuit which included races at Hawthorne Race Course in Chicago, Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha and Oaklawn Park Race Track in Hot Springs, Arkansas. On April 17, 1987, Smith married Patrice Lively, daughter of jockey John L. Lively, in Hot Springs.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.