Jamie Theriot is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 jockey. The son of Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 horse trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

 Harold Theriot, he is a nephew of jockey Larry Melancon

Larry Melancon

Larry J. Melancon is an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing who rides primarily on the Kentucky-Arkansas circuit....

.

Jamie Theriot, who began riding on bush track

Bush track

Bush track is a term used in horse racing to describe unsanctioned, informal horse races run in rural areas of the United States and southern Canada. Quarter horses, ridden by amateur jockeys, are raced on makeshift tracks, often set up in the field where the horses are pastured using barrels or...

s in his native Louisiana, turned professional at age sixteen. He has competed primarily on the Louisiana-Arkansas-Kentucky racing circuit, where he won a riding title at Evangeline Downs

Evangeline Downs

Evangeline Downs is an American race track and casino located in St. Landry Parish, just east of Opelousas, Louisiana. With a seven furlong oval track, the facility provides close to 1,000 horse stalls for Thoroughbred flat racing and American Quarter Horse racing...

 in 2001 and the 2003 riding title at Oaklawn Park Race Track.

In 2007, Theriot won his first Grade 1

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 race, capturing the Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes

Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes

The Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race run annually since 1986 at Keeneland Race Course near Lexington, Kentucky. Open to horses three-year-old and up, it is raced on turf over a distance of one mile....

 aboard Purim at Keeneland Rqace Course

Keeneland

Keeneland is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and sales complex in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. Operated by the Keeneland Association, Inc., it is also known for its reference library on the sport, which contains more than 10,000 volumes, an extensive videocassette collection, and a substantial...

. On May 17, 2008, Theriot rode in his first American Classic, taking sixth place aboard Kentucky Bear in the Preakness Stakes

Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

 at Pimlico Race Course

Pimlico Race Course

Pimlico Race Course is a horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Olde Ben Pimlico's Tavern in London...

. On June 18, 2008, he became the seventh rider in Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs, located in Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, is a Thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby annually. It officially opened in 1875, and held the first Kentucky Derby and the first Kentucky Oaks in the same year. Churchill Downs...

 history to ride six winners in a single day

Controversy

On May 23, 2009, Theriot was aboard Sky Mom in the Grade III Arlington Matron at Arlington Park

Arlington Park

Arlington Park is a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago region has been a popular sport since the early days of the city in the 1830s, and at one time Chicago had more horse racing tracks than any other major metropolitan area...

 when his horse angled to the outside and clipped Born To Be ridden by Rene Douglas. This caused Born To Be to clip the horse running in front of her knocking her unconscious and throwing her jockey Rene Douglas head first into the track. Douglas was left paralyzed from the waist down due to the accident and Theriot was suspended for thirty days.

Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Chart (2003–present)
!Peak
position
|-
|National Earnings List for Jockeys 2003
| style="text-align:center;"|58
|-
|National Earnings List for Jockeys 2007
| style="text-align:center;"|39
|-
|National Earnings List for Jockeys 2008
| style="text-align:center;"|25
|-
|National Earnings List for Jockeys 2009
| style="text-align:center;"|35