Risch honors former jockey

CALDWELL, Idaho – Gary Stevens, a Caldwell native who earned national fame as one of thoroughbred racing’s most successful jockeys, is being honored by Idaho Gov. Jim Risch with “Gary Stevens Week.” Stevens, the three-time Kentucky Derby winner who retired last year, joined Risch at the Statehouse for the announcement Monday.

Stevens was born in Caldwell in 1963. He won his first horse race in 1979 at Les Bois Park on Lil Star, a horse trained by his father, Ron Stevens.

His career spanned 27 years and more than 5,000 victories, including two wins in the Preakness Stakes, three in the Belmont Stakes and nine in the Santa Anita Derby.

In 2003, Stevens played George Woolf in the movie “Seabiscuit.” In the same year, People magazine named him one of its 50 Most Beautiful People.