By Kevin Hendricks
New Mexico United will roll out the red carpet for one of the state’s own next week, declaring Wednesday, Aug. 26 “Mike Smith Night” when the club hosts Lexington SC.
Smith, a Dexter native, will be honored at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park during the 7:25 p.m. match, according to United’s announcement. The Hall of Fame jockey is one of horse racing’s most decorated riders, with a record 27 Breeders’ Cup victories, two Kentucky Derby wins and the 2018 Triple Crown aboard Justify.
Smith also won Canada’s Queen’s Plate in 1997, rounding out a résumé few jockeys can match. Born in Roswell and raised in Dexter, Smith told the Roswell Daily Record ahead of the 2018 Belmont Stakes that his hometown roots mean the world to him — “I take a lot of pride in being from Dexter, New Mexico,” he said.
Smith started riding almost as soon as he could walk. He won his first race at 16 aboard Forever Man at a Santa Fe track, then rode circuits in Albuquerque, El Paso and Arkansas before landing in New York, where his career took off.
The path wasn’t painless. Smith broke two vertebrae in a 1998 fall at Saratoga and spent six months in a body cast rather than undergo surgery. He returned to racing before he’d fully healed, but the injury pushed him to rebuild his career around fitness — a discipline of daily workouts and hydration he still credits for keeping him competitive into his 50s, well past when most jockeys retire.
That conditioning paid off in 2018, when Smith piloted Justify to the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, breaking a 136-year-old record by winning the Derby with a horse that hadn’t raced as a 2-year-old. He went on to complete the Triple Crown at Belmont, becoming just the 13th jockey in history to do it. Ahead of that Belmont run, Smith told the Roswell Daily Record he’d asked people back home to keep him in their prayers as he chased the milestone.
United is billing Mike Smith Night as a chance to bring “a New Mexico legend” to its home pitch, nicknamed The Lab.
Mike Smith Night — New Mexico United vs. Lexington SC
- Date: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, 7:25 p.m.
- Location: Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park, Albuquerque
- Tickets: bit.ly/NMaug26