Like many of his classmates, Glenn Corbett moved into a dorm room after graduating from Washington-Wilkes High School in Washington, Ga., in 1984. Corbett did not, however, head to UGA or Georgia Tech to continue his education.
Corbett’s dorm room was at The Meadowlands, where he went to work for Jerry Samuels. That led to an introduction to Bill Anderson, who was training for Blue Crest Farms at the time, getting horses ready for the racetrack and running at Penn National on the weekends.
Corbett ended up at Penn National, galloping and working horses for Anderson. Less than a year after graduating from high school, he climbed aboard Distant Orbit on May 4, 1985, for his first race as a professional jockey. A week later, he rode his first winner, Galarose, for Anderson.
That left him only 3,999 shy of 4,000 wins – a milestone he achieved Monday at Turf Paradise when he guided Arabian Story to a come-from-behind victory in the fourth, becoming the 78th rider to join the 4,000 club.
“I’ve been blessed,” Corbett said. “I want to thank all the people who ever gave me an opportunity to reach this milestone. It takes a lot of people to get something like that done.”
You could say that Corbett has taken no shortcuts on the road to 4000; you could also say the Titanic was a minor marine mishap.
Corbett put the journey in journeyman, having ridden 25,497 races at 36 racetracks (11 of which are closed) in 18 states. He has averaged more than 700 starts a year, riding more than 1,000 races four times. Through Monday, he has 4,000 wins, 3,649 seconds and 3,249 thirds, and his mounts have earned more than $55.2 million.
“I go to work and chip away,” said Corbett, who hit 3,900 wins in September 2019 at Prairie Meadows and has been grinding his way to the magic number.
Corbett has no graded stakes wins in his distinguished career, but he did have his 15 minutes of fame – or at least two minutes – when he rode Lusty Latin in the 2002 Kentucky Derby.
“It was a dream come true,” Corbett said, “to be at the show, for once. I knew it was difficult for a guy like me to get there. I didn’t ride on the circuits where 90 percent of the Derby horses come from – Kentucky, New York, California.”
Corbett had picked up the mount when Jeff Mullins brought Lusty Latin to Turf Paradise for his first start as a 3-year-old, the Rattlesnake Stakes in January. The California-bred son of El Prado won easy as the even-money favorite. That was followed by three consecutive thirds, all with Corbett up – the Turf Paradise Derby, El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Field and Santa Anita Derby.
“After the Santa Anita Derby, (Mullins) and the owners (Joey and Wendy Platts) had a discussion,” Corbett said. “Everybody was comfortable with keeping me on. I knew it was rare for a guy like me not to get taken off. I was very fortunate.”
Corbett made the most of the experience. He spent time with announcer Luke Kruytbosch, who had called races at Turf Paradise in the winter. The owners threw a party and a good time was had by all. Lusty Latin – whose 50-race career ended at age 9 at Suffolk Downs, the day before Big Brown’s Triple Crown hopes were cooked at Belmont Park – finished 15th to War Emblem, giving Bob Baffert the third of his six Derby wins.
Corbett lined up in the gate that day with some of the best jockeys ever; the 18 riders in that Derby have combined for more than 97,350 wins, 11 are in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame and Corbett is the 14th to reach 3,000 wins.
That’s pretty heady company for a kid from Georgia who moved to New York when his father took a job as manager of the El Rancho de Paz Christian ranch in Owego. Corbett’s first racetrack experience was at Tioga Park with his father to watch Quarter Horse racing. He never went to a Thoroughbred track until visiting Atlantic City Race Course after he graduated from high school.
Corbett’s parents had moved to New Jersey when he was in high school but he went back to Georgia as a senior in order to keep competing in rodeo. He was at a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association event at Cowtown Rodeo in New Jersey when he met some exercise riders who encouraged him look into riding racehorses. He started hot walking and cleaning stalls at Atlantic City and, when the racing moved to the Meadowlands, he followed.
Corbett rode the New Jersey circuit as an apprentice, but was struggling after he lost his bug. Someone suggested he go to a new track in Oklahoma – Remington Park – which was built in 1988 by shopping mall magnate Edward DeBartolo Sr. Corbett saved up about $700 and headed for Oklahoma City.
“That’s how I ended up in the Midwest,” said the 55-year-old Corbett, who has ridden at Prairie Meadows since it opened in 1989 and Turf Paradise since 1992. Those have been his two home bases, but he was a have-saddle-will-travel jock for the better part of three decades, riding at tracks from Ak-Sar-Ben to Zia. And while he may no longer ride the card, he still feels good and enjoys the only career he has ever known.
“I feel great. I work out every day,” said Corbett, who has a 16-year-old daughter, Haley. “I’ll do 20 miles on the bike and I run and hike in the mountains.”
Corbett plans to return to Prairie Meadows for the meet that begins April 30. He has won 1,708 races at the Iowa track and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2019. Then it will be back to Arizona in October.
“It’s a great circuit for me. I can work year-round,” said Corbett, who doesn’t seem to know anything else.
