There is a wealth of impressive stats and successes from her 2011 campaign that Emma-Jayne Wilson could look upon with great satisfaction. But for the jockey closing in on 1,000 career wins, life in the saddle is more than just a numbers game.
One hundred and thirty five trips to the winner’s circle at Woodbine, nine stakes victories with nine different horses, a third-place ranking, purse earnings in excess of $6.3-million, a score in the Grade 3 Pan American at Gulfstream with now retired champion Rahy’s Attorney, and a superlative second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint with another Ian Black trainee, Excaper, who is a finalist for Sovereign Award honours as Canada’s champion two-year-old male.
Add a second aboard trainer Reade Baker’s Moonshine Mullin in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga last July (they were sixth in the Grade 1 Travers one month later and up for a Sovereign honours as champion three-year-old male), winning the inaugural Pimlico Female Jockey Challenge last May, an event that helped raise money for breast cancer awareness, and 2011 will be a year Wilson won’t soon forget.
Individually, each triumph is an enviable one in its’ own right. For Wilson, who has 925 lifetime wins through March 6, including a victory five years ago in the Queen’s Plate with Mike Fox, it’s the totality of what they represent that is most meaningful.
“It’s very difficult for me to look at things in terms of individual moments that stand out,” said Wilson, who took the racing world by storm when she burst onto the scene in 2004. “I was very happy with how things went for us last year. I suppose I would look at some of the successes in the U.S. Winning with Rahy’s Attorney was an amazing moment and Excaper coming up huge in the Breeders’ Cup was truly special. Overall, I was pleased with how everything turned out.”
The results were even that much sweeter considering Wilson sustained a serious injury in a racing incident in August of 2010, a year that still yielded 70 wins, despite her missing a significant portion of the campaign.
For an athlete as competitive as Wilson, going from sixty to zero was at times, downright miserable. But, as she would eventually discover, it would also prove to be motivational.
“It was a strange feeling to go from high gear right down to neutral,” recalled the native of Brampton, Ontario. “As tough as it was to be away from the races, I used that time to focus my energies on getting back and being the best rider I could be. I knew it would take some time, but I couldn’t wait to get back.”
During her months on the sidelines, Wilson, who topped the rider standings in 2005 and 2006, was reminded of the bond she has with racing fans. People emailed, took to social media and called Woodbine, eager to get updates on her recovery.
Not long after her accident, the rider who won the Sovereign Award as Canada’s top apprentice in 2005 and 2006, plus the Eclipse Award as North America’s champion apprentice in 2005, penned a letter that appeared on the Woodbine website, thanking everyone for their concern.
To this day, Wilson, who returned to riding in mid-November of 2010, remains grateful for that relationship.
“I was taken aback by people’s reaction and their response,” said Wilson, who won the Grade 3 Eclipse Stakes with Southdale two months prior to her spill. “It’s something I never take for granted and it means a lot to me. I feel very fortunate to have that support.”
Her return to the limelight also meant a return to the spotlight away from the races, namely, to charitable endeavors and appearances.
Wilson’s many acts of generosity over the years include her association with Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter. Not only did she spend time at the shelter, speaking with several women and staff members, she also recorded a public service announcement.
It didn’t stop there.
Wilson, motivated by her visit, raised money through donations from herself and her fellow Woodbine riders, presenting a cheque for $4,300 to representatives from Ernestine’s in a trackside presentation.
“I had absolutely no idea this was going on. I was really moved that she had gone to all this effort on behalf of women she didn’t even know,” said Jane Rogers, of Ernestine’s, during the presentation. “It is so heartwarming when people care enough about vulnerable women and children to want to not only open their hearts but also their wallets to help. I can’t tell you how much it means. It’s wonderful.”
Wilson, an inductee in the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame, as well as one of the most influential women in sport as chosen by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity, feels fortunate to be in a position to help.
“I am not an employee of Woodbine, but through them, I am able to go out in the community and get to know various people and their organizations,” offered Wilson, who in late 2007, became Canada’s first female rider to participate in the International Jockeys’ Championship in Hong Kong, and one year later became the first female rider in North America to be granted a licence to compete in Hong Kong. “To also have the chance at the racetrack to meet people, shake their hands or sign something for them, it’s important for us to have that relationship.”
With the 2012 Woodbine season nearing (the first race gets out of the gates on Good Friday, April 6), Wilson already has her game face on. The 30-year-old has been riding at Gulfstream Park in south Florida and working horses for several Toronto oval-based trainers.
Soon, she’ll be back at Woodbine, to ready for what will be her eighth full season.
As for what will define success for her this year, Wilson, like any other jockey, is hoping to post career-best marks across the board.
There’s no mistaking just how ready she is to shift things into high gear.
“After the injury, I look at what has happened since I came back as a continuation of what I’m striving to achieve, to give my all each and every race and to do what it takes to be the best.”
An approach that should put Wilson right on track for another winning year.
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