by Ed DeRosa

Jockey Justin Vitek, who inspired many by returning to riding just one year after being diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia in February 2008, died from the disease at 5 a.m. CST on Thursday in his native Texas. He was 36.

Services for Vitek, who is survived by a six-year-old daughter, will be in his hometown of Wallace, Texas. JoLynn Johnston, a friend of Vitek’s whose husband is former jockey and current Jockey’s Guild representative Jeff Johnston, said that plans are underway for a memorial service at Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky where Vitek staged his inspirational return last year.

Vitek rode in just four races in 2009 before his leukemia was no longer in remission. Overall in a career that began in 1993, Vitek won 739 races, including 27 stakes, from 8,056 mounts who earned $9,750,162. His top win came aboard Miss Pickums in the 2000 Golden Rod Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs.

Ed DeRosa is news editor of Thoroughbred Times