In the prime of his career, 35-year-old jockey Justin Stein is hanging up his riding tack.
Stein, who stepped into the irons 12 years ago, plans to say goodbye to the sport next weekend, with a final ride at Woodbine.
Stein and his wife, Renee, along with their four young boys and a host of farm animals and two horses, are soon to be headed back home to British Columbia. “We have been thinking about it for a while,” said Stein. “We bought a property in Kamloops a couple of years ago. I always said I would ride until I was 40, but recently opportunities have come up.
Those opportunities come in the form of 110 goats. Yes, a large herd of goats that will be the centre of attention for the family when they get to Kamloops. “We had put our house and farm up for sale last fall to see what would happen and it sold quickly,” he said. “Then we heard about a herd of pregnant goats for sale in Prince George, B.C. and we jumped at it. We’ve been paying for them for three months now.”
Stein, who emphasizes the outdoor life and resourcefulness to his children, is keen to return to his roots of living, essentially, the farm life. “You can make soap from goat milk and cheese,” he said. It’s the perfect way to make a little money.
“I am looking to live a simpler life right now. I can walk away from race-riding without any regrets. I can say I am happy with what I have accomplished.”
Stein is leaving as one of Woodbine’s top jockeys. In the last four years, he has won the Queen’s Plate, the Woodbine Oaks and two western Derbies.
The natural lightweight did a lot of amazing things on horseback and one of his talents was getting a horse to be comfortable on the early lead. That is how Canyon Farms’ Strait of Dover won the Plate in 2012. And last year, Stein was on 66 to 1 shot Academic and guided her to a front running shock of a win.
He then hit the road with that feisty bay filly and won the Canadian Derby and BC Derby on her in front of his home crowd.
Academic was named Champion Three-Year-Old Filly in Canada at the Sovereign Awards earlier this month.
Stein won his 1000th race on Battle Castle last September and has won 1,028 races in total from his 7,691 mounts. You can see his year-to-year stats below.
In total, he has ridden the winners of 46 stakes races at Woodbine alone.
One of his most favourite horses, the retired millionaire Stormy Lord, lives with him and his family in Caledon at the farm they have recently sold. Stein adopted Stormy Lord after the Canadian-bred gelding was claimed and was racing in the US. Between him and trainer Ian Black, they got Stormy back and now the laid back chestnut is off to BC to discover the world of goat herding. “He’s an amazing horse, so handy,” said Stein. “I got on him one day and started roping and he didn’t even need to be trained.”
Stein’s four sons and his wife are his foremost priority and his kids have all experienced some health issues in recent years. Gavin, who just turned three, was born with serious health problems and has already undergone surgery to remove a kidney tumour. “Gavin is doing better and the doctors are comfortable with him being away from Sick Kids [Hospital]. Vancouver has a good hospital and Renee has lined up all the doctors out there. Plus, Renee’s parents live on the coast so she has somewhere to stay.”
For Stein, spending time with his family and watching his kids grow up trumps race-riding at this time. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. We are all pretty lucky to work at a racetrack. It’s going to be really hard not to ride races, see everyone, every day on the backstretch. And I am not ruling out coming back, I am not selling my tack.
“I have been supported my many great friends, and horse people and fans. It’s quite the ride…literally.”
Stein will still need his tack for this coming weekend as he hopes to ride a few races and give them all the same type of ride he gave Neil’s Diamond on Sunday when he saved ground, slipped through an opening off the turn and guided that three-year-old to a big win for Franz Crean. “We are very fortunate,” said Stein. “A lot of people have dreams but not everyone gets to follow them for various reason. We did this dream and now we are on to another one.”
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