Tampabay downs media guide 16-0273-JK2

Jockey Profiles
Mike Allen
Born: August 9, 1967
Birthplace: Detroit, MI
Residence: Oldsmar, FL
Family: Wife, Lisa; daughter, Alexis; sons, Garrett and Connor
First Win: More Crafty, Tampa Bay Downs, 1986
Circuit:
Tampa Bay Downs, Presque Isle Downs
In typical unsung fashion, Allen is approaching the 2,000-victory mark for
his career while recently surpassing $20-million in total purse earnings.
Allen has often ridden in the shadow of his older brother, four-time Tampa
Bay Downs track champion Ronnie Allen, Jr., but the younger Allen has had
more than his share of memorable days at the Oldsmar oval. One of his top
moments at Tampa Bay Downs came in the 2006 Budweiser Challenger
Stakes. Riding the 6-year-old gelding Cherokee Prince for his father, trainer
Ronald Allen, Sr., Mike piloted the Kentucky-bred to a 6 3/4-length, wire-towire
victory at odds of 29-1. Allen was aboard later that year when Cherokee
Prince won the Labor Day Stakes at Mountaineer. After tying for 15th in
last season’s Oldsmar standings with 16 victories, Mike spent most of the
summer and early fall competing at Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa. A top
rider in Washington state from 1992-99 and at Prairie Meadows in Iowa
from 2003-07, he rode more than 100 winners every year from 1993-96 and
again in 2006 and 2007. He won the Grade III Budweiser Mile Handicap
(formerly the Longacres Mile) at Yakima Meadows in 1995 on L J Express.
In 2007, Allen celebrated career victory No. 1,500 at Tampa Bay Downs with
friends and family in attendance.
Ronnie Allen, Jr.
Born: April 24, 1964
Birthplace: East Liverpool, OH
Residence: Oldsmar, FL
Family: Son, Christopher; brothers, Mike and Kevin; sister, Kimberly
First Win: H.’s Shady Lady, Detroit Race Course, 1983
Circuit: Tampa Bay Downs, Presque Isle Downs
The jockey nicknamed “Rock and Roll” had another outstanding season
during the 2015-2016 Oldsmar meeting, riding 74 winners to finish third in the
standings, before moving his tack to Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa. Included
among his victories was a triumph in the $100,000 Turf Dash aboard trainer
Gerald Bennett’s Fast Flying Rumor, which achieved a 108 Beyer Speed Figure
in the 5-furlong fixture, the highest BSF in track history. A four-time Tampa Bay
Downs riding champion, Allen achieved a career milestone in 2013 at Presque
Isle when he posted victory No. 3,000 on Ghost Flower, a 3-year-old filly
trained by his fiancée, Maria Bowersock. Allen has won more than 80 stakes,
including the 1993 Tampa Bay Derby and Sam F. Davis Breeders’ Cup Stakes
aboard Marco Bay. He rode Sport Jet in the 1985 Preakness. His brother Mike
is also a jockey, and their father, Ronald Allen, Sr., has saddled almost 1,500
winners over a 39-year career, winning the Grade II Alcibiades Stakes in 1994
with Post It. In the 1980s, young Ronnie was a major force in the Tampa Bay
Downs jockey colony. So it was especially rewarding in 2010-11 when he won
his fourth Tampa Bay Downs riding title with109 victories, 23 years after he
was last on top. During the 2013-14 Oldsmar meeting, he rode 110 winners,
second in the standings. In 2012-13 at Tampa Bay Downs, Allen finished third
with 57 victories despite a late-season spill in which he suffered fractured ribs,
a punctured lung, a lacerated liver and head abrasions. He is approaching
3,500 career victories. When he’s not in the irons, Ronnie plays golf or takes it
easy, relishing the peace that comes from knowing hard work and dedication to
his craft are their own best rewards. His agent is a former Tampa Bay Downs
jockey, Paula Bacon.
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