Jockey Corey Lanerie bids farewell to racing at Churchill Downs

Jockey Corey Lanerie rode the final race of his extraordinary career on June 28 at Churchill Downs, the closing day of the spring meet. It was an apt farewell: under the Twin Spires, the Louisiana native earned 19 riding titles, won 54 stakes races, and ranks second in all- time wins behind Hall of Famer Pat Day. Lanerie also topped charts at Ellis Park, Lone Star Park, Sam Houston, and Retama Park. He is among the elite group of 39 jockeys with over 5,000 wins, and he retired with over $172 million in career earnings. Known simply as "C-Lan," he built a reputation as one of racing’s most respected riders.

Lanerie's grandfather was a trainer who owned horses; his father, Gerald, became a trainer following a career as a jockey. Corey began galloping horses at age 9 and, like so many Louisianian riders before him, rode on bush tracks prior to becoming a professional. 

He made his debut at age 16 on March 9, 1991, at Delta Downs and celebrated his first victory a little more than a month later, on April 19, aboard High Hopes Banquet at Evangeline Downs. Lanerie spent most of his first three years on the Louisiana circuit before dividing his time between Louisiana and Texas, beginning in 1994.

Lanerie admits he was intimidated by the prospect of competing at the storied Churchill Downs. He made his first start there in 2000 and earned his first victory aboard Embraceable on Nov. 21. Riding his first full Churchill season in 2003, Lanerie hoped to win one race a week. He quickly surpassed this goal, and in 2005, he made Churchill his home base. Seven years later, he topped the track's jockey standings for the first time.

In 2014, jockeys nationwide voted for Lanerie to receive the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. This honor recognizes a rider who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct. 

The following year, he won Churchill's prestigious La Troienne (G1) on Kentucky Oaks day aboard Molly Morgan for trainer Dale Romans. The pair teamed for many of Lanerie's Churchill victories.

In the 2017 Kentucky Derby, Lanerie rode Lookin At Lee, who went off at 33-1 odds. Down the backstretch, only one horse trailed them. Like his Cajun predecessor Calvin Borel, Lanerie was known for his rail-skimming rides, and he guided Lookin At Lee to the inside entering the far turn. With plenty of horse beneath him, Lanerie briefly thought he was on his way to winning the Derby before finishing second, his best result in six starts in the classic. He cites it as his favorite moment of his career.

The previous year, he finished second in the Preakness (G1) aboard Cherry Wine.

In 2018, Shantel Lanerie, his wife of 21 years, was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer. That year, she led the 144 women in the Survivors Parade prior to the Kentucky Oaks, while jockeys wore pink "Fight With Shantel" bands around their legs in a show of support. Just over a month later, she developed sepsis and died at age 42. Their only child, Brittlyn, was ten at the time. 

Some of Lanerie’s biggest wins came in the final decade of his career, including the 2019 Woody Stephens (G1) with Hog Creek Hustle and the 2020 Derby City Distaff (G1) with Bell’s the One. He also won the Ashland (G1)—Keeneland’s biggest prep for the Kentucky Oaks—in 2016 with Weep No More and in 2017 with Sailor’s Valentine. He had previously won it in 2009 with Hoo Why, the first of his seven Grade 1 wins on his resume. 

The 51-year-old’s final mount of his career was Coal Battle, a blue-collar underdog fan favorite on the 2025 Kentucky Derby trail trained by 72-year-old Louisianian Lonnie Briley. After another jockey rode the colt to an 11th-place finish in the Run for the Roses, Lanerie became his regular rider for the next five starts. In his farewell race, the pair finished fourth in the Hanshin (G3). Afterward, members of the jockey colony joined Lanerie as the Churchill Downs team presented him with a saddle towel bearing the number 19 to commemorate his track-record 19 riding titles. An avid golfer, he also received a retirement gift: a golf bag that will be personalized with his name and his total wins at Churchill.

Family has always been important to Lanerie, and he looks forward to spending more time with them. His parents were able to attend his final race day. His daughter, Brittlyn, who was named after the owners of one of his favorite mounts, four-time Louisiana Horse of the Year Star Guitar, graduated from high school in May and will enter the University of Kentucky next month. He proposed to his girlfriend of three years on New Year's Eve and looks forward to gaining a stepson. He looks forward to traveling on weekends and spending more time on the golf course.