Ray Sibille

Who is Ray Sibille?

Raymond Frederick Sibille is a retired American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. In a career that spanned thirty-five years, Sibille rode his first winner on June 29, 1969 at Evangeline Downs in Carencro, Louisiana. In 1973 he moved to compete on the Chicago-area tracks where he won riding titles at Arlington Park, Hawthorne Race Course, and Sportsman's Park Racetrack. In 1981 he relocated to Southern California where he won numerous top races. In 1988 trainer Thad Ackel hired him as the regular rider for Great Communicator and Sibille met with his greatest success that year, winning major races such as the Hollywood Turf Cup Stakes and the San Juan Capistrano, San Luis Obispo, and San Marcos Handicaps before capping off the year with a win in the Breeders' Cup Turf.

In 1993, Ray Sibille returned to race in Chicago where he would compete until retiring on July 24, 2004. On Nov. 8, 2004, the Illinois House of Representatives recognized his distinguished career and riding accomplishments. In 2005, he was voted the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, a one-time honor given annually by the members of the Jockeys' Guild to a jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack.