Racing industry pays tribute to jockey Avery Whisman

The death of jockey Avery Whisman last week at age 23 has left the racing industry in a state of mourning.

His friend and mentor, Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, perhaps summed it up best in this social-media post.

Whisman grew up with horses on his parents' farm in Versailles, Ky., near Lexington, according to his obituary. He began event riding at age 11 and launched his jockey career in 2019. He moved to California, where he met Smith, and galloped horses at Del Mar and Santa Anita.

He picked up his first win at Turf Paradise and later returned east to ride on the mid-Atlantic circuit. Whisman's career record was 810: 90-96-98 with earnings of $2,715,109.

A cause of death was not disclosed, but family members told BloodHorse that they wanted to encourage awareness of the mental and physical demands of being a jockey.

"We are not ashamed of what happened; we hope this tragedy can help someone else," said Whisman's sister Emma. "We never want anyone to go through the pain we are suffering."