[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4936]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1240
            CELEBRATING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF KEVIN KRIGGER

  (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, when the horses line up in Churchill 
Downs for the running of the Kentucky Derby next month, all eyes in the 
U.S. Virgin Islands will be on young Kevin Krigger, a jockey from my 
home island of St. Croix, who will be riding the horse, Goldencents.
  We're all proud of Kevin, who grew up in LaVallee and attended 
Central High School. Kevin always wanted to be a jockey and grew up in 
the sport, riding horses on our beaches and country roads, challenging 
anyone he could to a race.
  Before he was recruited by other Virgin Islanders who race in the 
States, he was well known on the tracks of St. Croix, St. Thomas, and 
Tortola as a talent to watch. He proved himself riding on the west 
coast, in particular, at Emerald Downs in Seattle, Washington, before 
his historic win on Saturday at the Santa Anita Derby.
  On Saturday, Kevin Krigger became the first African American to win 
the Santa Anita Derby. Last fall, he was the first African American 
jockey to win a million dollar race in Louisiana's Delta Jackpot. If he 
rides Goldencents to victory in the Kentucky Derby next month, he will 
become the first African American to do so since 1902.
  Mr. Speaker, Kevin Krigger's family and fans in the Virgin Islands 
will be cheering wildly on the first Saturday in May. I congratulate 
his mother, Averil Simmonds, and his father, Albert Krigger, Jr. We're 
all proud of this young man and his accomplishments, and wish him 
Godspeed in this and all of his future endeavors.

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