Emma-Jayne Wilson is the highest-earning female jockey in Thoroughbred racing history and the first woman to win the Queen’s Plate.

On October 10, 2026, she rode her 2,000th winner at Woodbine. Her mounts have earned more than 94.8 million US dollars.

Woodbine has been her home track since 2004. In her 23rd season there, she is winning at the best rate of her career.

Career Highlights

Statistic	Figure
Born	September 1, 1981, Brampton, Ontario
First ride	August 27, 2004, Woodbine
First win	August 28, 2004, Fort Erie, aboard Ali Olah
Career wins	2,000, reached October 10, 2026, at Woodbine aboard Vanity
Career earnings	More than 94.8 million US dollars
Win rate	13 per cent
In the money	41 per cent
2026 season	18 per cent win rate through October 9
Woodbine riding titles	2005 and 2006
Classic win	2007 Queen’s Plate, Mike Fox
Grade 1 wins include	2015 Northern Dancer Turf, 2020 Natalma Stakes, 2020 Northern Dancer Turf
Earnings record	Highest-earning female jockey in history since July 11, 2024
Major awards	Eclipse Award 2005. Sovereign Awards 2005 and 2006. Avelino Gomez Memorial Award 2018. Special Sovereign Award 2024

Source: Equibase official profile. Rates and earnings run through October 9, 2026. Equibase lists her best racing class as Multiple Graded Stakes Winning Jockey.

Early Life and Education

Wilson, a Brampton, Ontario native, was born on September 1, 1981. Riding lessons started at nine, and she wanted to be a jockey from childhood.

The route to the saddle was not direct. A Woodbine trainer she approached as a teenager told her she would grow too big for the job. Her parents wanted post-secondary education first, so she enrolled in the equine programme at Kemptville College, then part of the University of Guelph. She finished in 2002.

During her two years at Kemptville, her mother’s friend arranged a meeting with Hall of Fame jockey Sandy Hawley, who connected her with trainers willing to let her try exercise riding. After graduation she worked as a stable hand on a Thoroughbred breeding farm before moving to Woodbine as an exercise rider. Two years later she held an apprentice licence.

Apprentice Years: 2004 to 2006

Wilson rode her first race at Woodbine on August 27, 2004. A day later, on only her second career mount, she won at Fort Erie aboard Ali Olah. She finished 2004 with four wins from 31 starts.

Her first full season produced a Woodbine riding title: 175 winners at the 2005 meet and 180 in all. No woman had led the Woodbine standings before, and only two apprentices had: Sandy Hawley and Mickey Walls. The year brought her the Sovereign Award as Canada’s outstanding apprentice and the Eclipse Award as North America’s.

In 2006 she did it again. Her 144 wins led all Woodbine riders and earned a second riding title and a second Sovereign Award as outstanding apprentice. On August 12 that year she rode in the Shergar Cup at Ascot, where she and Hayley Turner were the first women to take part. The Brampton Sports Hall of Fame inducted her while she was still riding.

No rider wins 175 races in a Woodbine season on a weight allowance alone. It takes steady support from leading barns, and Wilson had it from her first full year.

The 2007 Queen’s Plate

On June 24, 2007, Wilson rode Mike Fox to win the 148th Queen’s Plate at Woodbine. No woman had won the race before.

Horse: Mike Fox, a homebred owned by D. Morgan Firestone
Trainer: Ian Black
Odds: 15-1
Margin: half a length over Alezzandro
Time: 2:05.45 for 1 1/4 miles
Surface: Polytrack, in the first Queen’s Plate run on Woodbine’s synthetic track

The ride showed her strength in a finish. Mike Fox raced close to the pace, lost ground on the far turn and looked beaten at the head of the stretch. Wilson kept driving. She found room between Alezzandro and the tiring favourite Jiggs Coz and got up in the final strides.

It was her second Plate mount, a year after she finished 12th on Bridgecut.

The Queen’s Plate brought international invitations. That December she became the first woman to ride in the Cathay Pacific International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley in Hong Kong. A Hong Kong licence followed in 2008, the first granted to a North American woman, and she rode there in February and March.

Year-by-Year Analysis

Equibase’s season records show the shape of Wilson’s career. The 180 wins of 2005 remain her season best, and 2007, the Queen’s Plate year, was her busiest: 1,216 races.

Her book of mounts has been smaller since, and the injury years cut it further. In 2025, the season after her most serious fall, Woodbine counted 12 wins from 126 starts.

Then came 2026. Through October 9, Wilson had 57 wins from 311 starts, an 18 per cent win rate that Woodbine reports as the highest of her 23 seasons.

Milestones by season

Year	Highlights
2004	First ride August 27 at Woodbine. First win August 28 at Fort Erie. Four wins from 31 starts
2005	180 wins, 175 of them at Woodbine, and the Woodbine riding title. Eclipse and Sovereign Awards as outstanding apprentice
2006	144 Woodbine wins, a second Woodbine title and a second apprentice Sovereign. Shergar Cup debut at Ascot
2007	Queen’s Plate on Mike Fox, June 24. Second in the Woodbine standings with 128 wins in early December. First woman in Hong Kong’s International Jockeys’ Championship
2008	Rode in Hong Kong in February and March on a local licence
2010	60 Woodbine wins before an August 21 fall. Back on November 17 with 770 career wins
2011	Pan American (Grade 3) at Gulfstream Park on Rahy’s Attorney. Won the first Female Jockey Challenge at Pimlico. Second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Excaper
2012	1,000th win on September 16 at Woodbine aboard D’wildcat Gold
2013	Natalma Stakes, then Grade 2, on Llanarmon
2014	Two wins from six races at the Shergar Cup
2015	Captained the first Girls team to win the Shergar Cup, August 8. Sky Classic (Grade 2) and Northern Dancer Turf (Grade 1) on Interpol
2017	Captained the Girls team at the Shergar Cup, August 12
2018	Broken arm on the eve of the Woodbine meet. Avelino Gomez Memorial Award, June 9
2019	49 Woodbine wins before a September 8 fall. Back on November 8. 1,533 career wins by November 7
2020	Two Grade 1 wins: Natalma Stakes on Lady Speightspeare, Northern Dancer Turf on Say the Word
2022	Singspiel Stakes (Grade 3) on Ready for the Lady. Niagara Stakes on Who’s the Star. Shergar Cup Mile on Jungle Cove
2023	Missed time with a concussion
2024	Passed Julie Krone’s earnings record on July 11. 55 wins at the meet before an October 25 fall. 1,930 career wins at year-end
2025	Returned June 12. Canadian Stakes (Grade 2) on Ready for Shirl, July 20. Fractured collarbone in late July. 12 wins from 126 starts
2026	2,000th career win on October 10 at Woodbine, aboard Vanity. Singspiel Stakes (Grade 3) on Tomasello. Cup and Saucer Stakes on Canada

Signature Wins

Every race below took place at Woodbine, except the Pan American at Gulfstream Park.

Date	Race	Grade	Horse	Trainer	Result
June 24, 2007	Queen’s Plate	Classic	Mike Fox	Ian Black	Won by half a length at 15-1
2011	Pan American	Grade 3	Rahy’s Attorney	Ian Black	Won
2013	Natalma Stakes	Grade 2	Llanarmon	Roger Attfield	Won
August 2015	Sky Classic Stakes	Grade 2	Interpol	Sid Attard	Won at 21-1
September 13, 2015	Northern Dancer Turf	Grade 1	Interpol	Sid Attard	Won by half a length at 10-1
September 20, 2020	Natalma Stakes	Grade 1	Lady Speightspeare	Roger Attfield	Won by three-quarters of a length
October 18, 2020	Northern Dancer Turf	Grade 1	Say the Word	Gail Cox	Won from last place
2022	Singspiel Stakes	Grade 3	Ready for the Lady	Roger Attfield	Won
July 20, 2025	Canadian Stakes	Grade 2	Ready for Shirl	Roger Attfield	Won
September 5, 2026	Singspiel Stakes	Grade 3	Tomasello	Mark Casse	Won by half a length

Interpol gave Wilson her first Grade 1 on September 13, 2015. She had picked up the mount one race earlier, when an injury sidelined the colt’s regular rider, and won both starts at long odds.

These are a selection. By July 11, 2024, Woodbine’s count stood at 129 stakes wins, 39 of them graded.

Where She Has Ridden

Wilson is a Woodbine rider first. Most of her wins have come there, and she has also ridden in the United States, Hong Kong and England.

Jurisdiction	Track	Record
Ontario	Woodbine	Home track since 2004. Riding titles in 2005 and 2006. Queen’s Plate in 2007. Grade 1 wins in 2015 and 2020
Ontario	Fort Erie	First career win, August 28, 2004
Florida	Gulfstream Park	Pan American (Grade 3), 2011
Louisiana	Fair Grounds	Rode there in the winter months of 2007 and 2008
Maryland	Pimlico	Won the first Female Jockey Challenge, May 2011
Kentucky	Churchill Downs	Second in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf
Hong Kong	Happy Valley	International Jockeys’ Championship, December 2007. Licensed rider, February and March 2008
England	Ascot	Seven Shergar Cup appearances and four winners through 2022. Winning team captain in 2015

Injuries and Comebacks

Wilson has come back from every serious injury in her record.

August 21, 2010: Her mount fell at Woodbine. She suffered a lacerated liver and returned on November 17.
April 2018: She fractured her upper left arm in morning training on the eve of the Woodbine opener.
September 8, 2019: A spill at Woodbine broke her left collarbone and bones in her right hand. She returned on November 8.
2023: A concussion cost her part of the season.
October 25, 2024: Her mount, Ready Shakespeare, suffered an apparent cardiac event in the second race at Woodbine and fell. Wilson hit the inside rail and fractured her neck and pelvis. She had surgery at Sunnybrook Hospital, spent time in intensive care and went home in November.
Late July 2025: Her mount suffered a fatal injury in a morning workout at Woodbine. Wilson fractured her collarbone.

The 2024 fall was the most serious. After seven and a half months of recovery, Wilson rode again at Woodbine on June 12, 2025 and won within two racing days. On July 4, a horse unseated her before the first race. Sunnybrook Hospital treated and released her the same day, and sixteen days later she won the Grade 2 Canadian Stakes on Ready for Shirl for trainer Roger Attfield.

Wilson has since named that win as the one that stands out: it showed she was back in form, and Attfield had stayed loyal to her. Days later came the collarbone fracture. She finished 2025 with 12 wins from 126 starts and has called the year a write-off.

The Earnings Record and 2,000 Wins

On July 11, 2024, Wilson won the fourth race at Woodbine on Perfect Lady Bee, a first-time starter trained by Roger Attfield for owner-breeder Charles Fipke. The win carried her past Julie Krone’s career mark of 90,126,584 US dollars, and no female jockey has earned more for her mounts. She had 1,903 wins at that point.

The Jockey Club of Canada recognised the record with a Special Sovereign Award at the 50th Sovereign Awards on April 24, 2025.

The 2026 numbers say she is back. Through October 9 she had 57 wins from 311 starts, an 18 per cent win rate, and had finished in the money in 42 per cent of her races. Her stakes wins include:

September 5: Singspiel Stakes (Grade 3) on Tomasello for Mark Casse, by half a length
September 13: Bull Page Stakes on Souper Survivor, by 5 1/4 lengths
October 4: Cup and Saucer Stakes on Canada for Mark Casse, by 1 3/4 lengths

She also rode Tomasello in the Grade 1 Canadian International on October 3, where the colt set the pace and finished seventh.

Four wins on the October 9 card at Woodbine left her on 1,999. The 2,000th came a day later, on October 10, 2026. She won the seventh race at Woodbine, at 1 1/16 miles, aboard Vanity, a three-year-old filly trained by Mark Casse for D. J. Stable. The win came for the owner and trainer of Canada, her Cup and Saucer winner six days earlier.

Wilson leads all Canadian women in career wins. Her 1,000th came on September 16, 2012, when D’wildcat Gold won the first race at Woodbine and made her the second Canadian woman to reach the mark, after Francine Villeneuve.

Awards and Honours

2005: Eclipse Award, Outstanding Apprentice Jockey
2005: Sovereign Award, Outstanding Apprentice Jockey
2005: Named among the most influential women in sport by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity
2006: Sovereign Award, Outstanding Apprentice Jockey
Brampton Sports Hall of Fame: inducted while an active rider
2015: Captain of the first Girls team to win the Shergar Cup at Ascot, and Ride of the Day for her short-head win on Missed Call
2018: Avelino Gomez Memorial Award, presented at Woodbine on June 9
2024: Special Sovereign Award for the earnings record, presented April 24, 2025

The Gomez Award goes to a rider who is Canadian-born, Canadian-raised or a regular in the country for more than five years, and who has made a significant contribution to the sport. Wilson is the second woman on the Jockeys Canada list of recipients, after Francine Villeneuve in 2004.

Frequently Asked Questions About Emma-Jayne Wilson

Q1: Who is Emma-Jayne Wilson?

A: Emma-Jayne Wilson is a Canadian Thoroughbred jockey from Brampton, Ontario, based at Woodbine. She is the highest-earning female jockey in racing history and the first woman to win the Queen’s Plate.

Q2: How many races has Emma-Jayne Wilson won?

A: She rode her 2,000th winner on October 10, 2026, aboard Vanity in the seventh race at Woodbine. Her mounts have earned more than 94.8 million US dollars, according to Equibase.

Q3: When did Emma-Jayne Wilson win the Queen’s Plate?

A: She won the 148th Queen’s Plate on June 24, 2007, at Woodbine aboard Mike Fox, trained by Ian Black. The colt went off at 15-1 and won by half a length.

Q4: What record does Emma-Jayne Wilson hold?

A: She holds the record for career purse earnings by a female jockey. She passed Julie Krone’s mark of 90,126,584 US dollars on July 11, 2024, at Woodbine aboard Perfect Lady Bee.

Q5: Which Grade 1 races has she won?

A: Her Grade 1 wins include the 2015 Northern Dancer Turf on Interpol, the 2020 Natalma Stakes on Lady Speightspeare and the 2020 Northern Dancer Turf on Say the Word, all at Woodbine.

Q6: Is Emma-Jayne Wilson still riding?

A: Yes. She rode her 2,000th winner at Woodbine on October 10, 2026. Her 2026 wins include the Grade 3 Singspiel Stakes and the Cup and Saucer Stakes.

Q7: What injuries has Emma-Jayne Wilson come back from?

A: Her record includes a lacerated liver in 2010, a fractured arm in 2018, a broken collarbone and hand in 2019, and neck and pelvic fractures on October 25, 2024. She fractured her collarbone again in July 2025 and returned to ride her 2,000th winner in October 2026.