Page 16 - December 2018 Thoroughbred Highlight

Jockey Jorge Espitia was working in the showroom of his family’s car dealership
in Southern California when in walked a horse trainer who said “You’re in the wrong business.”
While this may sound like the beginning of a too often heard wisecrack, it wasn’t a joke and those words changed Jorge’s life.
Born in Southern California, Jorge was
a natural lightweight, the perfect size to become a jockey, nonetheless he had never considered that profession.
Despite the fact that he had never ridden or been around horses Jorge heeded the advice of that trainer, Jose Corrales, who took him to the track and his farm while explaining the ins and outs of the world of horseracing.
Jorge’s rst race was in 2003 at Sunland Park, New Mexico. After riding the entire Sunland meet without a win in 2004 Canadian trainer Peter Stephen suggested to Jorge
that he take his 10lb apprentice advantage
to Hastings Racecourse in British Columbia. Jorge received a warm welcome at Hastings and on his second day of racing, in his eighth start at the meet, he won his rst career
race aboard Vye Me to the Moon, trained by Stephen.
That year proved to be a career high in earnings ($746,069) with Jorge in the win enclosure 45 times with 58 seconds and 50 thirds. In 2007 he returned to the United States to ride and be closer to his family. But ultimately when the number of mounts began to drop Jorge made his way back to Canada establishing himself as a top journeyman jockey at Northlands Park by 2013. Riding also at Golden Gate Fields Jorge amassed a career high 69 wins that year.
This is also when Jorge met Hannah.
Hannah grew up in Red Lake, Ontario, a town located 500 plus kilometers northwest of Thunder Bay, approximately 100 kilometers from the Manitoba border with a population of a little more than 4000 people.
Riding horses by the age of six Hannah recalls being yelled at in the arena for going too fast. At age 11 Hannah knew that she wanted a career where she was allowed to go fast on horses, and had decided that she was going to be a jockey.
After graduating high school in 2013 Hannah enrolled in the race horse groom training course at Olds College in Olds, Alberta, the rst course needed to advance to getting her exercise rider and jockey training
Hannah & Jorge at home with their dog Elvis
Photo Right: Jorge Espitia and Hannah Twomey in the Jockey Lounge at Woodbine
certi cate in 2014.
Hannah was exercising plenty of horses
at Northlands Park for numerous trainers, getting on 15 plus horses each morning noting the invaluable experience and commenting that her feet were not on the ground for very long every morning.
Jorge and Hannah met in the barns at Northlands Park and the pair have been inseparable since. Spending their winters
in Southern California Hannah galloped at Santa Anita getting on horses in the morning for various trainers including Neil Drysdale and Dan Hendricks.
In their 5 years together the pair have been on many adventures together on various road trips across the mid United States and Canada.
In 2016 the couple made the move to Ontario so Hannah could establish herself at Woodbine in preparation for the start of her career as a jockey. “I wanted to start my apprenticeship at Woodbine,” remarked Hannah taking a purposeful posture when talking about the process of beginning her career, “I wanted to learn from the best and
the top jockeys at Woodbine are the ones to learn from.”
Since the move, both Jorge and Hannah have been exercising horses in the morning, with Jorge riding a few in the afternoons and Hannah honing her skills in preparation for her start as an apprentice jockey.
However the week she had planned to start in August Hannah was kicked by a horse and the resulting bruise to a bone in her leg set her back a couple of weeks. “I was frustrated and upset because I was ready to start.” recalled Hannah who then brightened up
with a story about their dog Elvis whom they rescued from the side of the road in California during one of their road trips. “He would sit
on my lap every morning while I sat outside drinking tea and resting my injury. He knew how to make me feel better.”
October 12 was Hannah’s rst career start as an apprentice jockey at Woodbine. And as fate would have it, Jorge had a mount in the same race, positioned next to one another in the gate.
Hannah nished 4th in the race aboard the John Coryat trained Soul n’ Spirit.
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Thoroughbred Highlight, December 2018, Page 16
Twomey & Espitia in Tandem
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