The day will come when 58-year-old jockey Mike Smith no longer wants to compete in horse racing.
That hour is no time soon and most definitely won’t be before 7 p.m. Saturday at Churchill Downs, when he’ll mount Rodriguez for trainer Bob Baffert in the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby.
Smith, who will turn 59 in August, is vying to become the oldest jockey to win the Derby. Bill Shoemaker, who won aboard Ferdinand at age 54 in 1986, is currently the oldest jockey to win the Run for the Roses.