Who's Who: Jockey Hopes to Ride Another 20 Years

Name: Francisco Duran

Age: 33

Occupation: Jockey

How did you get started as a jockey? I started in the small jockey school in southern California; that got me experienced to start getting practice at racetracks. It took me about 3 1/2 years from the time I got introduced to horses until I started racing professionally.

Did you ever ride horses before becoming a jockey? I grew up in urban Los Angeles; I'd never been around suburban areas. My neighbor at the time worked at a car dealer and met this ex-jockey that had a jockey school, so my sister was presented with the opportunity; my sister didn't want it. Some time later, I took that opportunity, and I continued on.

I've been racing for about 10 years now, since 2000. Most of my racing career has been here (at ). You have to know what you're doing during the whole process of your race; it's very physically and mentally demanding.

Which horses do you ride? I ride so many [I] can hardly keep track of them.

Do you have a favorite horse? I've got a couple of favorites, but not here; most of them are in Washington. I was in Washington state for the summer; I took a little time off from Golden Gate Fields.

Why are those your favorites? I had a lot of success there in Washington. I guess I'm just starting out my business here, trying to get better horses for the meet, scouting around for better horses to ride.

Describe your typical day. I'm here by 6 a.m. I can work anywhere from 6 to 9 a.m. on horses, have some time off, be back here by 11:45 a.m. Depending on the number of races in a day – I can have from one to eight races – sometimes I can be here 12 or 13 hours a day; I won't have time to leave.

Any memorable races here? I won my 1,000th career win here.

How long will you continue as a jockey? As long as I can. Hopefully, I can go another 20 years, as long as I'm healthy and don't get into .