Dominique Boeuf
Born on 6 June 1968, Dominique Boeuf is a French flat racing jockey. Son of the former jump jockey and trainer Gerard Boeuf, it might be said that Dominique Boeuf was born to race. Young Beouf started racing at an early age after becoming an apprentice to first Pierre Biancone, and then later to his son Patrick Biancone. He won his first race at Le Croise Laroche in 1984 at the age of just 16. Just two years later, with 30 victories to his name, he became the top apprentice jockey and he took his first mount at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Before long he became France's top jockey – earning the honor in 1991, 1998, 2001 and 2002. Boeuf also won the Prix Maurice de Nieuil in 1992 and the Air Mauritius/Beau Rivage International Jockeys Day in 2003.
Life was not always so rosy for Dominique Boeuf. Despite the fact that he is a brilliant jockey who has won plenty of races, he was implicated in a drug ring scandal that nearly cost him his career in 1994 when he was arrested and sentenced to three years imprisonment. By this point, he’d been involved with drugs for the past three years. The four other jockeys that were involved received suspended sentences and later Boeuf’s punishment was also suspended which enabled him to keep riding. Unfortunately, he lost the Wildenstein retainer making it difficult for him to come across good horses. Things did not look good for the jockey until 1997 when he eventually started to rebuild his career, enjoying 127 wins in that year. By 1998 he had managed to regain the ‘best jockey’ title and by 2001, he was riding for Wildenstein once more.
It would seem that Boeuf has learnt his lesson and he continues to enjoy his racing career. Thus far he has enjoyed more than 1,800 victories and achieved 23 Group 1 level victories. Despite not always taking first place, he has remained determined to reclaim his place in the victory circle and recent developments have certainly made for a brighter future. It seems certain that Dominique Boeuf will continue to be a fierce competitor in years to come.
