George Robert “GR” Carter Jr. is a retired professional race horse jockey. Carter was named the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) World Champion Jockey ten times in his career including six years consecutively from 2003-2007. No other jockey has won more than five titles. He finished his career as the all time leader in AQHA racing with $75,799,513 in mount earnings and also is the leader by wins with 4,013.


Carter is proud of his native Osage heritage and he was born and raised in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. He attended Indian Camp elementary school and graduated from Pawhuska High School in 1986. As a teenager, he was a competitive gymnast and won the state championship when he was 12 years old. During his senior year at Pawhuska High School, Carter won the Class A State Wrestling Championship at 108 pounds.


Growing up, Carter was involved in ranching and rodeo, which helped develop his love of horses. At age 14, he began galloping race horses for a local trainer to help fund his rodeo participation. Throughout his senior year in high school, he would occasionally ride races on the weekends at Blue Ribbon Downs and Eureka Downs.


After graduating from high school in 1986, Carter moved to Sallisaw, OK to become a full-time jockey at Blue Ribbon Downs. Carter won the All American Futurity twice, in 1998 aboard Falling in Love Again in 2008 aboard Stolis Winner. In 2008, Carter set a new AQHA single-season earnings record by reaching the $5,027,173 mark in mount earnings. May 31, 2009 was declared by Governor Brad Henry as GR Carter Day in Oklahoma.


Carter was known throughout the racing world for his “back-flip” dismounts. After winning a stakes race, he often used his gymnastics background to celebrate by performing a back-flip off of the horse form the saddle. GR rode and won his first officially recognized race at 16 years of age in 1984 on a mare named Beas Jester owned and trained by his father George. He finished his career winning the Los Alamitos 2 Million on Flash and Roll in December 2018.


Carter and his wife Shaena reside in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In his spare time, Carter is an avid team roper. He will occasionally enter professional rodeos, and own the Pro-Am at the 2007 World Series of Team Roping.