When it comes down to it, knowing who is going to do well in horse racing is more of an art than a science. Jockeys are supremely talented, to say nothing of being incredibly brave, but even they depend on the quality of the horse that they are given to ride.

If the best jockey in the world was given a horse to ride who has come last more often than any other position, they might be able to improve their overall position, but they are unlikely to get them to win the race.

Even so, they deserve their place in the sun, so it is worth having a look at which the best ones of all time are.

 The Top Ten Jockeys with the Most Wins

Here is a look at the top ten jockeys that have enjoyed the most wins of all jockeys since 1995. The data is limited to that year because that is how far back it goes electronically, though some of the jockeys in the list were riding before 1995.

There is also no difference in our data when it comes to flat racing over jump racing, so both forms are included in the table below:

Some things it’s important to draw your attention to include the fact that not every country keeps a solid track of how many races a jockey has entered during their career, nor do they share the information between them. As a result, some of the totals in the ‘Races’ column are best estimates from research.

Similarly, Wins denoted by a * are for jockeys who were racing before 1995, whilst the races that have a ** next to them are for jockeys who are still riding at the time of writing. That means that both totals will go up, but this is the cleanest information that we have at the time.

Looking at the Jockeys More Closely

Now that we’ve explained which jockeys have been amongst the most successful to take part in the sport in recent times, accepting that the likes of Lester Piggott would’ve been on the list if we looked before 1995, it is worth taking a closer look at each of the riders in the table.

Sir Anthony McCoy

When it comes to jockeys in the modern era, none come close to the achievements of Sir Anthony McCoy. He won the title of Champion Jockey 20 times in succession between 1996 and 2016, winning virtually every single race that there was to win during a remarkable career. Whether it be the Grand National, the Cheltenham Gold Cup or the King George VI Chase, McCoy was in the winners’ enclosure of the event at least once. Whilst our data only looks back to 1995, McCoy has won more races than any other jump jockey in the sport’s history, deserving his place at the top of the table.

Frankie Dettori

If you were to ask someone to name a flat racing jockey, there is a very good chance that Frankie Dettori’s name would be the one that they mention. Whilst he is deserving of his place on any list of phenomenal jockeys, the fact that he once won all seven races on the card at one of the days of a Royal Ascot meeting tells you everything that you need to know. He was also not afraid of a bit of showmanship, doing the ‘flying dismount’ in order to get down from his horse at the end of the race. He won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe six times, which remains a record for the French event.

Ruby Walsh

If you want someone who isn’t going to be overawed by the occasion, Ruby Walsh was always your man. One of the only jump jockeys who could look to challenge McCoy’s dominance, he set the record for the number of times he was crowned the Top Jockey during the week of the Cheltenham Festival, taking home the title 11 times. That is thanks to his 59 wins in all races at the meeting, whilst he’s also been able to win the Grand National twice. An exceptional talent, he certainly benefitted from the fact that his father, Ted Walsh, was a talented trainer of horses.

Joe Fanning

If you want to have a fact to accompany your name, winning at every flat racecourse in Great Britain is a decent one to boast. Working as the stable jockey to Mark Johnston certainly helped with Fanning’s ability to find winners, taking up the role in the 1990s. Twice the All-Weather Champion Jockey, Fanning has never been afraid to go hell for leather in any conditions. One of the records that Fanning perhaps won’t be quite so pleased to have to his name is the fact that he has the most winners of any rider to never end up as the winner of the Jockeys’ Championship.

Ryan Moore

Although Ryan Moore’s name probably wouldn’t be all that close to the top of the list of flat racing jockeys who those with only a passing interest in the sport would be able to list, he has won every single Classic race that is run in Britain and all of the Irish Classics at least once. With more than 400 Group or Listed successes in the United Kingdom, those 16 Classic wins mean that he can consider himself to be amongst the best riders ever to climb into the saddle. There is also barely a well-known event from around the world that he hasn’t won, from France to Australia, Hong Kong to the United States of America.

Jim Crowley

Named British Flat Racing Champion Jockey in 2016, Jim Crowley became the first jockey for Hamdan Al-Maktoum that year and has taken numerous horses from Shadwell Racing to the winners’ enclosure ever since. In some ways, it should’ve been expected of him when you consider the fact that he was born in Ascot. He competed in the Shetland Pony Grand National when he was only a child, riding as an amateur in flat racing before making the change to National Hunt racing and riding for Sue Smith. He returned to flat racing as a 27-year-old and has never looked back.

Jamie Spencer

With a name that sounds like he should be one of the stars of Made in Chelsea, Jamie Spencer has the honour of having been named Champion Jockey in both Britain and his native Ireland. At the time of writing, he has won two Classic events, supplementing them with five Irish Class wins. He became known for his method of holding his horse up in the race until late on, then using its natural dashing speed to get it across the line in first position. He has been the stable jockey of some of the industry’s best-known trainers, proving his love of the horse racing world when he married the Channel 4 Racing presenter, Emma Ramsden, in 2005.

Luke Morris

When your grandfather, uncle and cousin are all jockeys, there is perhaps an extent to which you are destined to become a rider yourself. That is the situation that Luke Morris found himself in, compounded by his family’s decision to move to Newmarket when he was a youngster. He actually began riding for the trainer Michael Bell when he was still at school, going to the British Racing School before becoming an apprentice with him. His first big win came on Juniper Girl in the Northumberland Place back in 2007, winning his first Group event three years later.

William Buick

Despite his name sounding about as Scottish as it could without a ‘Mac’ at the start of it, William Buick was actually born in Norway. That’s because his Scotland-born father was a Scandinavian Champion Jockey eight times, whilst his mother took part in dressage and showjumping. With that in mind, there was only one likely career path for him and he was always late for school because he was riding out. He was small for his age, but he soon got the hang of what was expected of him to the point that there is barely a major race he didn’t win, including three different Classics and six in total.

Silvestre De Sousa

Whilst William Buick’s name might be slightly misleading around his place of birth, the same can’t be said of Silvestre De Sousa. Born in Brazil in 1980, he was the youngest of ten and didn’t sit on a racehorse for the first time until he was 18. The phrase ‘duck to water’ might well apply for him, moving to Ireland in 2004 before heading to England a couple of years later in order to link up with David Nicholls. He was named the British Flat Racing Champion Jockey for the first time in 2015, winning the honour again two years later and then once more in 2018, taking home plenty of well-known races.