Page 47 - Speedhorse, October 2021

“The award is voted on by our peers so that right there is an honor. I hope the award will inspire all jockeys, which will help keep the industry going.”
Jimmy with his father, Roy, who was the first Sam Thompson Memorial Award winner in 2011.
presented in honor of jockey Sam Thompson,
a jockeys’ room leader during his riding career, which was cut short by a fatal riding accident in 2008. Sam served as Jockeys’ Guild senator, Los Alamitos room representative, and a council member of the Los Alamitos division of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America.
The recipient of each year’s Sam Thompson Memorial Jockey Award is chosen by votes cast by fellow jockeys at tracks that hold American Quarter Horse racing. Active jockeys receive ballots and vote for the person whose personal character on and off the track reflects positively on Quarter Horse racing.
This year’s four nominees were: Berkley Packer, Jesus Rios Ayala, Jimmy Dean Brooks and Stormy Smith.
Previous winners include Jimmy’s father Roy Brooks (2011), Gilbert Ortiz (2012), G. R. Carter, Jr. (2013), Cody Jensen (2014), Eddie Garcia (2015), Ramon Sanchez (2016),
and Cesar de Alba (2017), Ricky Ramirez (2018), and Esgar Ramirez (2019). Due to the closure of many tracks in 2020, the award was suspended that year.
The 2021 Sam Thompson Memorial Jockey Award was presented to Jimmy Dean Brooks on Sunday, September 5, 2021, at Ruidoso Downs, after the fifth race, a 330-yard allowance race named the Sam Thompson Memorial Jockey Award Race. This race was won by the three- year-old First Moonflash filly Best Moonflash, owned by Garland Shelton, trained by John Stinebaugh, and ridden by Francisco Calderon.
Brian Rigby was the emcee for the ceremony, and he spoke to the crowd of racing fans about the design and purpose of this award that promotes integrity in the lives
of the jockeys who compete in the Quarter Horse racing industry. Jimmy was joined
in the awards presentation ceremony by his wife Tina, his son Cameron, his parents Roy
and Connie, sisters Becky and Brenda, and close friends. Gilbert Ortiz, G. R. Carter, Jr., Ramon Sanchez, as well as Roy Brooks, former Sam Thompson Memorial Jockey Award recipients, together with the jockey colony at Ruidoso Downs, came together to see Jimmy Dean Brooks honored with the presentation
of his specially designed signed and numbered limited-edition bronze statue of Sam Thompson and Champion Corona Kool by artist Linda Manion and the trophy belt buckle given by John Bachelor of SPEEDHORSE magazine.
His name will also be added to a permanent plaque housed in the American Quarter Horse Association’s Racing Hallway in Amarillo, Texas, along with the most distinguished horses and awards.
“The award is voted on by our peers so that right there is an honor,” Jimmy Dean says. “I hope the award will inspire all jockeys, which will help keep the industry going.”
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