Jose-Luis has a very loyal following from Spanish racing fans because they appreciate his professional approach and his will to improve himself.

He joined the apprentices' school in Madrid in October 1983 and had his first ride in Madrid in 1986 for his governor, Angel Imaz.
His first winner was in February 1987 at the Pineda racecourse in Seville and he became Champion apprentice that year.

In 1988, he represented Spain in the Long John Apprentices Championship, winning in Denmark and finishing 6th in the Championship.
There he made good friends with Johnny Murtagh and he has fond recollections of Gary Bardwell.

After the customary year of military service in 1989 he became a professional jockey in 1990 on winning his 50th race in Spain.

In 1993, he rode his first Group winner on Cumbrales (who was to subsequently win the 1994 Spanish Derby) and he became Champion Jockey for the first time.

In 1994, he was 3rd in the Jockey's table and won the prestigious Coupe Piaget du Sud Ouest in France on Pirulo.
Appointed as stable jockey for the No1 stable, Cuadra Madrilena, he won the Spanish 2,000 Guineas on Bolishoi in a desperate finish beating John Reid by two short heads.

1995 was a record year for Jose-Luis. A second Jockeys Championship along with winning the Spanish 2,000 Guineas, Derby and Copa de Oro (all on Madrileno pictured below) St.Leger (El Ceremonioso) and Criterium Internacional.
He thus became only the 2nd jockey to win the Spanish Triple Crown since the majestic Claudio Carudel in the 1950's.
Jose-Luis rode Madrileno to finish 4th in the Group 2 Prix Dollar at Longchamp.

1996 saw his third championship but with the closure of the Madrid racecourse, Jose-Luis began considering a move abroad to widen his experience.

He joined Kamil Mahdi's stable in Newmarket in early 1997 but family committments saw him have to return to Spain.

In 1998, he moved to Italy and was stable jockey to Dormello Oligata for 6 months, winning 23 races.

In 1999, now working for Marco Gasparini, he won 41 races, amongst them the Criterium de Torino on Pop Mart.
Occasional ventures to Spain saw him team up with Suances as a 2 year old in 1999.

Suances won his maiden with Jose-Luis at San Sebastian in August, 1999 and he remarked,

"I had to ask the trainer if he was 2 or a 3 year old when I galloped him for the 1st time, so impressive was his physique ! "
The combination were unbeaten in 5 outings, culminating in the Group 3 Prix de Guiche at Longchamp in May 2000.

Whilst obviously sad that he lost the winning ride to Mosse in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat, Jose-Luis states that:

"The horse has done more for me than I have for the horse. He is very,very good, tricky to get to know but full of heart and courage and is still capable of improving."

Suances to date has 7 wins from 9 races. His two defeats came on his debut where he was sluggish out of the gate and rallied to finish 4th and his debut after 2 years off the track through injury, in a Grade 1 at New Orleans where he finished 10th, beaten just 5 lengths.

His latest victory came in the 4 runner $216,000 San Francisco Breeders' Cup Stakes, Grade 2, which he won easily from wire to wire, beating the top turf horses in the U.S.

He can now be considered the top older candidate for the Breeders' Cup Mile and you can rely on a strong contingent of Spanish turf fans making the trip to Chicago in late October if he lines up in the race.

In 2003 & 2004 Jose-Luis again moved back to Italy and rode a lot of winners before decamping back to Spain in 2005. He rode a beautiful race to win the Spanish 1,000 Guineas on Ofelia Yac at the new Dos Hermanas racetrack in April, 2005.

Total Races Won: ~441
Spain: 351
Italy: 66
France: 23
Denmark: 1

Champion Jockey: 6 times with 32 wins in Spain in 2002.

Best Horses Ridden: Suances, Madrileno, Kantia, Cumbrales, Toba, Pirulo, El Ceremonioso.

Stable Jockey to Mauricio Delcher Sanchez, the trainer of Suances, Partipral, Kantia, etc.

Tel/Fax: +34 91 816 2310
Mobile:+34 630 38 40 82

Jose-Luis Martinez Career Wins