2024 – Jockey
From the tiny island of Barbados to Toronto’s Woodbine racetrack, Patrick Husbands has established himself as one of this country’s all-time most successful and popular jockeys. With a keen sense of horsemanship, athleticism and wily knowledge of a horse race and his competitors, Patrick is 30 years into an outstanding career. And he’s not done yet.
Patrick is on a path to win 400 stakes races at Woodbine which would be easily an all-time record.
The son of a jockey, he was just five years old when he first sat on a horse and was only 16, the youngest ever, to ride the winner of the Cockspur Gold Cup, the most prestigious race in Barbados.
He was barely 20 when he followed his brother Anthony to Woodbine to test his skills at a major league circuit. Once he was able to show off his talents to the Woodbine horsepeople such as trainers Reade Baker and, later, Mark Casse, he quickly climbed up the rider’s ranks. Patrick won his first Sovereign Award as Canada’s Outstanding Jockey in 1999, the first of four straight such awards.
His greatest moment, no doubt, came in 2003 when he guided future Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame Inductee, Wando, to Canadian Triple Crown glory for the late Gustav Schickedanz and trainer Mike Keogh, also Honoured Members of the Hall. Wando’s Plate win was the first of three in Canada’s most prestigious race for Patrick.
Other notable wins include a pair of stunning wins in 2001. First, he guided Harry Mangurian’s Exciting Story, trained by Mark Casse, to a jaw-dropping win in the $750,000 Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile Handicap and then upset the Grade 1, $1 million Woodbine Mile with Numerous Times. He has ridden dozens of champions including Hall of Fame horses Sealy Hill and Plate winner Lexie Lou, who was inducted into the CHRHF in 2019.
Patrick was presented with the Avelino Gomez Award in 2014. He was inducted into the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
Patrick and Mark Casse have become one of the most successful one-two combinations in Canadian racing history. In 2023, Patrick won his third Plate on Paramount Prince, a Casse-trainee, and he led all Woodbine riders by stakes wins.
Patrick’s determination, resilience and passion for the sport has brought him back to the saddle numerous times despite many injuries. One of the most significant of those came in 2018 when his pelvis was crushed by a horse pre-race. He endured an agonizingly long stay in hospital and essentially had to learn to walk again, before returning to riding in 2019 and finishing fifth in the jockey standings.
One of Patrick’s biggest honours came early in 2024 when Woodbine hosted Patrick Husbands day where he was celebrated by his peers and family.