Julie WrightSofia Vives

Sofia Vives is an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding apprentice jockey of 2023 because of the wins and mount earnings she compiled while riding in Canada.

Vives, a 21-year-old native of South Carolina, ranked second in wins among North American-based apprentices last year, with 122 from 764 starts. She racked up $3,569,901 in mount earnings in 2023 to rank fourth in that category after wrapping up her season Dec. 17.

Vives was a regular at Woodbine in Toronto last year and also won races at Fort Erie, and at home in the United States at Parx Racing. She was born into a racing family, as her father, Lazaro Vives, and her uncle, Juan Carlos Vives, were jockeys, she told Woodbine’s publicity department.

:: Full list of 2023 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories

Vives prepared for her riding career working for trainer Mark Casse at his training center in Ocala, Fla. Casse has long been a dominant trainer at Woodbine and topped the standings there in 2023.

“I came up here with Mark Casse,” Vives told Daily Racing Form at the outset of her riding career in November 2022. “I started galloping for him two years ago.”

Vives told Woodbine publicity her first role with Casse was working maintenance at the farm in Ocala.

“I would always sneak a look at the horses going out to the track and watch them flying around out there,” she said. “I knew that’s where I wanted to be one day.”

Safe to say, Vives has arrived.