birth_place race birth_date horses article_title name occupation
bailleul , nord , france american , 1993 , 2000 -rrb- massachusetts handicap -lrb- 1986 -rrb- sword 1986 dancer invitational handicap -lrb- 1991 , 2000 , 2003 -rrb- -rrb- queen elizabeth ii challenge cup stakes -lrb- 1993 -rrb- champagne manhattan stakes -lrb- 1999 -rrb- turf classic invitational stakes -lrb- 2000 handicap -rrb- -lrb- 1981 -rrb- kelso handicap derby -lrb- 1982 , 1990 , 2000 -rrb- discovery handicap -lrb- -lrb- 1982 , 1991 -rrb- man o ' war stakes -lrb- 1978 1982 -rrb- caesar 's international handicap -lrb- 1982 -rrb- coaching -rrb- club american oaks -lrb- 1983 -rrb- diana handicap -lrb- 1983 brooklyn , 1991 -rrb- pan american handicap -lrb- 1983 -rrb- canadian handicap international stakes -lrb- 1985 -rrb- haskell invitational handicap -lrb- 1985 -lrb- -rrb- first flight handicap -lrb- 1986 , 2001 , 2002 1978 -rrb- flower bowl invitational stakes -lrb- 1986 , 1992 , november 6 , 1956 skip john 's call , kelly kip trial , kiri 's clown , influent , jean-luc samyn
 jean-luc samyn jockey
jean-luc samyn

jean-luc samyn -lrb- born november 6 , 1956 in bailleul , nord , france -rrb- is a jockey in american thoroughbred horse racing .
the son of a pastry chef , jean-luc samyn was one of three children .
at age thirteen , he went to work for the stable of trainer john cunnington at chantilly , a racecourse about north of paris city center .
he apprenticed for five years and on september 7 , 1975 earned his first career win at the racecourse in compiègne .
after a visit to the united states , jean-luc samyn returned permanently to compete .
in 1976 , he was the top apprentice jockey at garden state park in cherry hill , new jersey and then at keystone racetrack in bensalem , pennsylvania .
in 1977 , samyn relocated to race at new york racing association tracks where he has been based ever since .
he and his wife antoinette eventually made their home in manhasset , new york .
in new york , jean-luc samyn immediately began winning important stakes races and in 1984 rode play on to a 2nd place finish in the preakness stakes then won with the colt in that year 's withers stakes .
samyn had a long a successful association with the late u.s. racing hall of fame trainer , philip g. johnson , winning more than four hundred races together .
on november 20 , 1985 , jean-luc samyn rode in the japan cup at tokyo racecourse , then immediately flew to los angeles , california where he rode in the matriarch stakes at hollywood park racetrack .
according to his ntra biography , this is believed to be the first time a jockey has ridden in a stakes race on different continents on the same day .
in 2000 , samyn swept new york 's final prep races for the three breeders ' cup turf races with wins in the flower bowl invitational stakes , turf classic invitational stakes , and the kelso handicap .
during his more than thirty-year career in american flat racing , jean-luc samyn has earned wins in a number of major new york races including the grade i flower bowl invitational stakes a record four times .
he has also won national grade i events at gulfstream park in florida , keeneland race course in kentucky , monmouth park racetrack in new jersey , and at woodbine racetrack in toronto , canada .
as at 2009 , samyn is the dean of new york 's jockey colony .
