Randy Romero

Randy Paul Romero (December 22, 1957 – August 29, 2019) was a Hall of Fame jockey in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing.

Born into a family involved with horses, his father Lloyd J. Romero was a Louisiana

In 1975, Romero began his professional riding career at Evangeline Downs in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Nicknamed the "Ragin' Cajun", in 1983 at

While Romero met with great success as a jockey, the downside of his career was a number of racing-related injuries requiring more than twenty surgeries. He retired in July 1999 having ridden 4,285 winners, notably winning a number of important Grade I events.

Health problems

In 2002, Romero's health problems were added to when he learned that the disordered eating required to maintain riding weight during his years as a jockey had severely damaged his kidneys. He said he began vomiting his food at an early age in the practice known as "flipping" in the world of jockeys.^{[citation needed]}

In addition, his

For a number of years, Romero suffered from hepatitis C and on February 18, 2008 he had a kidney removed at a Louisville, Kentucky hospital. His remaining kidney did not work very well and he had to receive dialysis treatments several times each week.^[2]

On June 19, 2019, Romero entered

Romero died on August 29, 2019, due to stomach cancer.[4]

Legacy

Romero was voted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2010.^[5]

References

External links

• Cincinnati Enquirer, "Horse racing's dirty little secret"
• Boston University, WBUR Public Radio story on Randy Romero
• NTRA Bio Randy Romero