You can see with the naked eye the building of this riding career, piece by piece. The two stakes wins on Best of Ohio Day June 2 for trainer Mike Maker at Belterra Park. The first ride (and victory) for the powerful Brad Cox barn there July 21. Mounts on trainer Doug O’Neill’s Midwestern string, and for owner Steve Cauthen’s local stable.

It is coming together now for Ferrin Peterson, thanks to her attention to detail, her continuing quest to educate herself in all facets of racing Thoroughbreds, and a lifetime spent on the backs of horses. At 31, she seems poised to make the jump from Belterra and Ellis Park and Horseshoe Indianapolis to Churchill Downs and Keeneland.

In a relatively short time in the saddle competitively, Peterson has caught the attention of Hall of Fame jockeys Julie Krone, Ramon Dominguez, and Cauthen. Clearly, there is skill and knowledge here waiting on opportunity.

Ferrin Peterson at Keeneland. (Coady Photography)

Peterson grew up in Sacramento, Calif., getting early lessons from her mom on riding English. She engaged in dressage and jumping, less to compete than to develop a bond with her horse. With no exposure to racing other than an annual viewing on TV of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, Peterson nevertheless desired to become a jockey.

Lacking an obvious outlet to ply that trade, she detoured into veterinary school and interned at Ellen Jackson’s Victory Rose Thoroughbreds in Northern California. There, she delivered foals and broke yearlings on the training track. Jackson trained off the farm and at Golden Gate Fields, and Peterson obtained her exercise rider’s license. Within a year she was riding races, and shortly thereafter she completed vet school. Then she returned to her dream.

Heading south, she handled her own business while riding the Del Mar meet in 2019. However, in the immediate aftermath of the breakdown epidemic at Santa Anita Park that year, the circuit was suffering, and field sizes cratered, taking riding opportunities down with them. Peterson breezed horses in the morning for several established outfits, but mounts were few and far between, and quality ones virtually nonexistent.

Nevertheless, Krone, who lives in the area, took notice and suggested they go to Monmouth Park in New Jersey, where Krone would handle Peterson’s book.

“I’ve always gone where there’s an open door, because I want the opportunity to ride,” said Peterson. “So, I was happy to go with Julie to the East Coast.”

Peterson spent two years around the Mid-Atlantic, riding at, among other venues, Monmouth and Aqueduct. She gained her first stakes victories – aboard Share the Ride in the 2020 Mr. Prospector Stakes and with Por Que No  in the following year’s Boiling Springs Stakes – at Monmouth. But the circuit was not working for her.

“I wanted the opportunity to ride every day, but I found that the trainers there don’t ship around as much, so it’s hard to ride at multiple tracks,” Peterson said. “You thin out your business at your main track if you travel around. Also, it seemed that every time I picked up momentum, the meet would end. And you’d have to begin again at another track with different trainers and you’re back starting from scratch.

“I looked for a circuit where you could ride at a few tracks and breeze at a few places, and I noticed the caliber of horses in Kentucky. It’s more likely you could come across a 2-year-old that might take you somewhere here.”

Peterson has, for now, found a home on the Kentucky circuit. Since horsemen there can train horses at the major tracks or at training centers near them in Louisville and Lexington, they are able to ship horses up to run at Belterra, Turfway Park, Ellis, and Horseshoe Indianapolis, allowing Peterson to ride at multiple venues.

For most of her riding career, Peterson has served as her own agent. It adds a considerable amount of work to her plate, especially having to study multiple condition books for various racetracks, but at the same time gets her better acquainted with horses’ progressions.

“It gives you a unique perspective, a long-term view of where a horse could run in the future,” she said. “As an independent contractor, you’re only guaranteed the mount on a horse one race at a time. If it doesn’t fire, or something happens in the race that’s your fault, you could lose the mount. But in studying the condition books, I can figure out how to get the horse back. I find it keeps me inspired, rather than feeling down if I’m taken off a mount. You can start to piece the puzzle back together.

“You keep your head up, and keep working hard. Taking on the business yourself, you see how the pieces can come together. I like taking the reins and making things happen. I reached out to Steve Cauthen for advice about agents, and he suggested I continue to represent myself to show horsemen how much I believe in my riding and how much I want to succeed.”

Peterson rides Frady to a win at Turfway Park. (Coady Photography)

After arriving in Kentucky last year, Peterson began breezing horses for Maker, including top runners such as Army Wife. Maker has begun to give her opportunities deeper into his stable, and that paid off June 2 when Peterson got home twice for Maker in $100,000 stakes at Belterra, winning the Best of Ohio Diana Stakes aboard Squid and the Best of Ohio Green Carpet Stakes with Trojan Tale. She had piloted both to victories in allowance races before those stakes scores.

“Ferrin is a very good gate rider,” Maker said. “She rides a smart race, and always puts the horse in a position to win. She’s also a very hard worker who has great passion for the sport.”

After four unsuccessful tries with other riders, Cox named Peterson to ride a 3-year-old Quality Road filly named Who Runs the World, and the pair teamed to win by 2 ½ lengths in a maiden allowance at Belterra in the first race Peterson ever rode for the trainer.

“When she’s on something decent, she’s winning with them,” said Cauthen, who knows a thing or three about riding. “The horses break well for her; she gets out of the gate and puts them in a good spot. She lets the horse find its place and gets run out of them. She’s a sharp kid, and she has a lot of potential.

“You have to keep working hard to get the opportunity. It’s hard to get noticed, especially in Kentucky, especially if you’re a woman, and especially when you’re riding against good riders that ship in. I really admire her try.”

Through hard work, opportunity will come. But before Peterson finds the big horse that will make a name for her, she puts in her time riding mostly longshots. Asked if that gets frustrating, Peterson referred to a conversation she had with Dominguez while in New York.

“Ramon told me I have to look at each mount, and judge whether I improved the horse. As long as you’re improving the horse, you’re doing your job. That’s one of my selling points when I talk to trainers. ‘If I don’t improve your horse, take me off.’ I want to ride horses that will run for me that I can improve.”

Because, rightly or wrongly, many horsemen feel that female jockeys aren’t strong in the stretch, Peterson works diligently on her fitness and strength. She trains by boxing, because throwing punches is the same motion as pushing on a horse’s neck down the lane. She addressed being a woman in a male-dominated field.

“I hear a fair amount of bias against women, but when you have to work harder for something, you appreciate it that much more,” Peterson said. “The wins mean a lot more, and being able to ride for these better connections means a lot. I know it’s not going to come easily. But I’m getting better chances, and it’s nice to come in with confidence.”