Okay, so I wanted to compile a list of all the jockeys who’ve won the Kentucky Derby. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong! It turned out to be a bit of a rabbit hole, but a fun one!
Getting Started
First, I fired up my browser. I figured there’d be tons of websites with this info. I started with a basic search.
Digging Through the Results
My initial search gave me a bunch of articles, some official Kentucky Derby sites, and a few random lists. I noticed a lot of them only showed recent winners, maybe the last 20 years or so. I wanted the whole shebang, from the very beginning!
So, I refined my search, I scrolled through a lot of pages. I quickly realized I needed a way to keep track of all this. I grabbed a notebook and started jotting down names and years as I found them.
Organizing My Findings
My notebook started looking like a mess. I decided to switch to a spreadsheet. Much cleaner! I created columns for the jockey’s name, the winning horse, and the year.
I spent a good chunk of time copying and pasting, double-checking names and dates. There were a few discrepancies between different sources, so I tried to cross-reference everything to make sure it was accurate. It’s surprisingly easy to find conflicting info!
The Final Product
Finally, I had a pretty comprehensive list. It took longer than I expected, but I learned a lot along the way. I didn’t realize how many jockeys have won multiple times, or how far back the Derby actually goes (1875!).
It’s cool to see the history laid out like that. Now, if anyone asks me about Kentucky Derby-winning jockeys, I’ve got the answer – and a pretty neat spreadsheet to prove it!
