Javier Castellano Biography – Four-Time Eclipse Award Winning Jockey

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Javier Castellano's bio

The Venezuela-born jockey Javier Castellano grew up in a jockey family. Image Source: Javier Castellano's Twitter.

  • Birth DateOctober 23, 1977
  • Birth Name Javier Castellano
  • Age 47
  • Height 5' 1"
  • Weight 114 lbs
  • Father's Name Abel Castellano Sr.
  • Mother's Name Neila Castellano
  • Birth Place Maracaibo, Zulia, Venezuela
  • Birth Sign Scorpio
  • Nationality Venezuelan
  • Profession Jockey
  • Partner Abby Castellano
  • Relationship Status Married
  • Eye Color Black
  • Hair Color Black
  • Children Kayla Castellona, Sienna Castellona, Brady Castellona
  • Twitter https://twitter.com/jjcjockey
  • Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Castellano

Javier Castellano is a Thoroughbred horse racing jockey from the United States of America. His professional career started in 1996, and he has been continuing it to date. He has won several races and numerous awards.

Despite being in the limelight, very little is known about Javier’s personal life. Thus, let’s take a look at Javier Castellano’s bio, including the information about his family, net worth, love life, and many more.

Grew Up In A Family Of Jockeys

The horse rider was born in Maracaibo, Zulia, Venezuela, on October 23, 1977. He grew up in a jockey family with his younger brother Abel Castellano Jr.

Javier Castellano’s father, Abel Castellano Sr., was a jockey. He passed away in 2000. The former’s mother, Neila Castellano, has been residing in South Florida since 2001. Furthermore, his uncle and brother are also jockeys, but the latter has not ridden since 2015. Instead, Castellano Jr. started a new career as a trainer in 2017.

Furthermore, Javier Castellano’s parents did not want him to follow in his father’s footsteps. As the job comes with multiple injuries, hard life, etc., his dad and mom wanted him to have a proper education and some other profession. Moreover, being a jockey was not his first choice either. Growing up, Javier wanted to be a professional baseball player.

Talking about his educational background, Castellano has not revealed much about his school or college.

Javier Castellano Net Worth And Career

Javier has become a household name in the horse racing world. He has made a good name for himself and is one of the talented jockeys of his time. Talking about his fortune, the exact amount has not been revealed yet. But once we take a look at his earnings, we can assume that Javier Castellano’s net worth is a notable amount.

At the age of 16, the Venezuela-born jockey began to train. As there were no jockey schools in his home country, he went to the track, where he learned how to ride. In 1996, he started riding professionally in his native country. His first race was at La Rinconada and Santa Rita racecourses. In June of the following year, he moved to the United States.

In America, Javier began riding on the South Florida circuit, and then in 2001, he moved to New York. His first major win was in 2004 aboard Ghostzapper, Frank Stronach‘s colt. The jockey has won several races ever since. He also parted ways with his long-time agent Matt Muzikar, and Mike Lakow replaced him. After him, the 5′ 1″ tall rider hired John Panagot in 2018.

The jockey has won several races and has earned a hefty amount. This table shows Javier Castellano’s earnings that he made in different years.

Year Earnings
1999 $5,285,939
2003 $9,558,978
2004 $13,059,066
2011 $15,677,027
2015 $28,120,809
2019 $25,053,713

Table Source: Equibase

According to Equibase, Javier has earned $368,639,966 in his horse-riding career. He was also a 2017 inductee into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. As a result of his earnings, Javier Castellano’s net worth must be in the million-dollar range.

Julien Leparoux is another jockey with immense earnings.

Is The Jockey Married?

The answer to that is Yes! The Venezuelan jockey is happily married to Abby Castellano. The duo tied the knot in August 2004. Talking about their relationship timeline, the pair has remained quiet. Furthermore, Javier Castellano’s wife is not new to horse racing sports.

Javier Castellano's Wife Abby Castellano
Javier Castellano and Abby Castellano tied the knot in 2004. Image Source: Javier Castellano’s Twitter.

Javier Castellano’s father-in-law, Terry Meyocks, is the national manager of the Jockey’s Guild. He is the former President of the New York Racing Association. In an interview, Abby revealed that marrying a jockey helped her in marriage as she knew what they go through and every ups and downs of the business.

Who knows, the married duo might have met at some racing events. As the couple understands the sports, it might have been easy for them to bond. It has been several years since Abby and Javier shared the vows. It must have been a wonderful journey so far.

Also Read: Learn About Erik Palmer-Brown’s Biography

A Proud Father Of Three Kids

In all these years of being blissfully married, Javier and his lovely wife welcomed three kids. Javier Castellano’s daughter, Kayla Castellano, is his eldest who was born in 2006. Then, in 2009 his second kid, Sienna Castellano, arrived. Finally, Javier’s son, Brady Castellano, was born in 2013.

Javier Castellano’s children have a joint Twitter account. They are huge supporters of their father and frequently tweet about his accomplishments. In addition, the kids must be growing up, having a splendid time.

Nevertheless, the jockey must be living a wonderful life with his wife and three children. Having already won millions of dollars in horse races, we hope to see Castellano gain more success in the coming days.

Trivia

  • Javier has won Eclipse Award four times.
  • He considers his father to be his greatest inspiration.