Jockey McMahon Earns Milestone Victory
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Photo: Coady Photography
C.J. McMahon
Multiple graded stakes-winning jockey C.J. McMahon celebrated the new year with a milestone win Jan. 1 at Delta Downs.
Riding 3-5 favorite Cavallotto in the fourth race Wednesday, McMahon delivered a front-running score in the one-mile claiming event to secure the 1,000th victory of his career. Cavallotto is trained by Karl Broberg, who in 2019 finished as the leading conditioner by wins in North America for the sixth straight season.
Broberg regularly calls on McMahon and in 2019 the pair teamed to win 132 races from 489 starts, including a victory in the Bluebonnet Stakes with Ima Discreet Lady in April at Lone Star Park.
The 2019 season proved a bounce-back year for McMahon as his mounts earned more than $2.5 million in purses. That earnings mark is the most for McMahon since 2016 when his mounts earned nearly $5 million. Among North American jockeys in 2019, he ranked 52nd in wins with 148, his best total since 216 in 2016—which ranked 13th.
In that 2016 season, McMahon captured three grade 3 stakes: guiding Texas Chrome to victory in the Super Derby and Oklahoma Derby and winning the Texas Mile Stakes with Great Minds.
McMahon grew up in rural Louisiana and began galloping horses by the time he was an 8-year-old. He launched his professional career at age 16 in 2011 and has ridden regularly in Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana, Kentucky, and Florida.