Mike Smith is one of the best jockeys in Thoroughbred Racing history. and dominated the sport for three decades. In 1994 he was named US Jockey of the year by ESPN and awarded the Mike Venezia Award. He was then inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2003. His best year of racing was arguably in 2018 when he won the Triple Crown becoming the oldest jockey to achieve that. The following year Smith surpassed Jerry Bailey for most wins by a jockey with 217 grade 1 wins.