Champion jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson collected her 1,000th lifetime score aboard D'wildcat Gold in the first race at Woodbine Sept. 16 (VIDEO) .
"It's something I've been chasing," said Wilson, who became the first female rider to win the Canadian classic Queen's Plate in 2007 aboard Mike Fox. "For a couple weeks I had a bit of a lull, but it's good to get the milestone and now I'm counting to 1001. Let's go!"
Wilson guided 2-year-old filly D'wildcat Gold ($8.30) to a 2 1/4-length victory in a $32,000 maiden claiming race at 5 1/2 furlongs for trainer and owner Tom O'Keefe.
In 2005, the 31-year-old rider won the Sovereign Award in Canada and the Eclipse Award as North America's top apprentice jockey. Also Canada's Sovereign winner as the leading apprentice rider in 2006, Wilson said she was thrilled to reach the milestone.
"As we started to pull away from Jermaine's (jockey Bridgmohan) horse (Perfect Balance), I had a little giggle," she said. "It was a little surreal and I just wanted to enjoy the moment for the last eighth of a mile. I knew she was running well and I just giggled through the last sixteenth (of a mile)."
In 2005, Wilson was one of 20 women named most influential in sport by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women.
Born in Brampton in Ontario, Wilson's first winner came with Ali Olah on Aug. 28, 2004, at Fort Erie. She won the inaugural Pimlico Female Jockey Challenge in May 2011, in an event that helped raise money for breast cancer awareness.
According to Equibase, Wilson has had 7,256 mounts through Sept. 15 with total purse earnings of $48,045,944. Her best season to date came in 2007 when she recorded 154 victories from 1,216 starts and her runners earned more than $8.6 million.
As of Sept. 15, she has 54 stakes scores, 11 graded.
Emma-Jayne Wilson celebrates win number 1,000.
Michael Burns