Craig Perret Takes Road Less Travelled From the Shore's Greatest Stretch to Horse Racing Immortality

Craig Perret's journey to the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga, NY, was far from guaranteed. If anything, he'd learned that the hard way.

Despite an illustrious career which included 4,415 career wins and victories aboard legendary horses Unbridled (1990 Kentucky Derby) and Bet Twice (1987 Belmont Stakes), Perret's had to wait his turn. The now 68-year-old jockey's been on the ballot in Saratoga for 12 long, exhausting years, during which he's endured a constant tease of what could have been--a lifelong dream to recognized among the best riders in the sport.

Perret's journey into horse racing immortality began, incredibly enough, when he was only 5 years old, as the Louisiana native started riding at a tender age only to be introduced to full-on thoroughbred racing by 15. By 1967, Perret was named the Apprentice Jockey of the Year.

Monmouth Park, however, was long considered Perret's true home track. The home of the Haskell Invitational in Oceanport, NJ, Monmouth Park didn't always carry the same weight and name-notoriety as it does today, making Perret's accomplishments and recognition on a national stage all the more impressive. Perret won a record 3 Haskells, a mark he shares to this day with fellow jockey Martin Garcia.

Perret knew Monmouth Park like the back of his hand, as his performance at the 1987 Haskell aboard Bet Twice will dictate.

While jockeys often do the dirty work which goes unappreciated in the making of a champion, Bet Twice's success opened new doors for Perret.

Considered one of the best rivalries in the sport's history, Bet Twice and Alysheba had battled down the stretch in both the Kentucky Derby (one of the most physical races on record) and Preakness, with the latter closing strong to just narrowly deny Perret a chance at history. But at the Belmont, a notoriously longer track, Perret and Bet Twice were ready.

Bet Twice won the Belmont by 14 lengths, giving Perret the wave of momentum necessary to take his career to the next level.

Come 1990, Perret got the nod aboard Unbridled, and recorded his greatest career accomplishment at the crown jewel of horse racing--the Kentucky Derby.

This race, in part, earned Perret the Eclipse Award for top jockey in the country, an accomplishment which placed him atop the sport in the middle of his prime.

Perret would go on to win back-to-back Queen's Plates, the Breeders' Cup Sprint and the Breeders' Cup for Juvenile Fillies before retiring in 2005.

Despite his renowned success around the country, Perret never outgrew his home base at Monmouth Racetrack.

"Working there at Monmouth Park for the summer, it was hard not to have a good relationship with everybody there,'' Perret told USA Today in 2015. "Everyone was so friendly. Just a beautiful place. And everybody seen everybody after work at the different restaurants on the Jersey Shore. it was great.''

Long known for thriving in a sport where success and failure can be determined in fractions of a second, Perret doesn't have to wait any longer. New Jersey remembers.