It proved to be an award-wining choice: two full seasons later, Smilovsky was voted Canada’s outstanding apprentice jockey at the Sovereign Awards ceremony that took place on April 8.
Smilovsky recorded 11 wins and 48 in-the-money finishes in 161 starts during the 2015 season, with purse earnings of more than $360,000. She earned 127 voting points to be named outstanding apprentice jockey in the category that also included finalists Fanny Crausaz, Isabelle Wenc, and Kayla Pizarro.
Smilovsky began her riding career as a Quarter Horse jockey in 2008, recording one start towards the end of the Ajax Downs season. She returned for her first full season at Ajax Downs in 2009, and notched her first win on Windy Cartel in what was just her sixth start of the meet. She finished the 2008 season with three wins in 81 starts, accompanied by 19 in-the-money finishes.
Her best season as a Quarter Horse jockey came in 2012 when she recorded 39 wins in 272 starts between Ajax Downs, Fort Erie, and Beulah Park in Ohio. Smilovsky also recorded her first stakes win that season, winning the Lady of the Lake Stakes at Fort Erie on Miracle Empress.
After winning 22 Quarter Horse races during the 2013 season, Smilovsky recorded her first Thoroughbred mount when she partnered Executive Runner on September 21 at Woodbine. Smilovsky would race both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses for a short period of time before recording her final start as a Quarter Horse jockey on October 8. Smilovsky recorded her final Quarter Horse win on that October 8 card at Ajax Downs on St Elmoe.
Her milestone first Thoroughbred winner came during Woodbine’s closing weekend in 2013 when she rode Chocolato to victory in an $8,000 maiden claiming event. It was Smilovsky’s lone Thoroughbred win during the 2013 season, but she also recorded nine in-the-money finishes in 62 starts.
Smilovsky was named a finalist for outstanding apprentice jockey in her first full season in Thoroughbred racing in 2014 after a campaign that saw her win 30 races in 297 starts between Woodbine and Fort Erie. She also recorded her first Thoroughbred stakes win courtesy of Johnny La Rue in the Puss n Boots Cup at Fort Erie in August of 2014. It was the first of two consecutive victories for Smilovsky and Johnny La Rue in the Puss n Boots Cup, as the rider and horse took all the spoils in 2015 as well.
“Johnny La Rue made my dreams come true,” Smilovsky said as part of her acceptance speech at the Sovereign Awards ceremony.
Smilovsky now serves as an assistant trainer to her partner Darwin Banach, according to an article that appeared in the Toronto Sun.
