Who Were The Greatest Jockeys of All Time?

Pin It Now! In the world of horse racing, all eyes fall on the racehorses. While it’s the horse’s name that’s usually splashed across the headlines after a big win or tough defeat, the jockeys who ride these horses deserve some credit, too.

Jockey Mario Gutierrez was able to lead I’ll Have Another to victory in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, rocketing him from relative obscurity to the cover of sports publications worldwide. Twenty-five-year-old Gutierrez is just one name in a long line of jockeys who have led their horses to victory and fame. The following are some other noted jockeys in horse racing history, as well as information on their long list of accomplishments.

Eddie Arcaro: This jockey receives little notoriety even when the discussion of the all-time greats arises. However, he is the only jockey to ever win two Triple Crowns. Despite his success on the track, he also maintained a reputation similar to that of professional baseball’s Ty Cobb. Cobb, who once physically attacked a person in a wheelchair, is considered on of the sport’s greatest villain.

Arcaro, who was tossed out of the sport for a year after being charged with attempting to harm a fellow racer, defended himself by saying, “I wasn’t trying to hurt him. I was trying to kill the son of a [expletive].” Arcaro was famous for riding Lawrin, Whirlaway, Cirtation, Hoop Jr., and Hill Gail to victory and worked with major trainers, including Ben Jones and James Fitzsimmons.

Bill Shoemaker: Bill “The Shoe” Shoemaker won more than 8,800 races and broke an impressively long list of records. He wasn’t the only one responsible for his success, however. He worked with the same agent for 40 years and worked alongside Charlie Whittingham, a master trainer. Shoemaker was famous for riding Swaps, Tomy Lee, Lucky Debonair, Damascus, and Avatar to victory in many races. In addition to Whittingham, he also worked with other famous trainers such as Frank Catrone, Frank Whiteley, and Meshach Tenney.

Another factor contributing to his success was his ability to stay healthy. During his career, he was able to avoid most falls and serious injury. However, Shoemaker became a quadriplegic after involvement in a car accident during his retirement years.

Pat Day: Day’s career got off to a fast start and then quickly bottomed out. Day won four Eclipse Awards, 12 Breeders’ Cup races, routinely manhandled the competition at Churchill Downs, and eventually became the highest money-winning jockey on the planet with more than $297 million won during his career.

Day is famous for riding Lil E. Tee, Dance Smartly, and With Anticipation to victory. Notable trainers who helped in the process include Lynn Whiting, Jim Day, and Jonathan Sheppard.

Julie Krone: Krone faced an incredibly high barrier to entering the sport of horse racing: her gender. Because of this, she experienced substantial intimidation and pressure from her peers. However, she did race with the best and held her own against the boys. Krone was able to win more than 3,700 races during her career, including having the notable distinction of being the only woman to ever win either a Triple Crown or Breeder’s Cup.

Krone is most famous for riding Moni Maker (trained by William Andrews) to a world-record time for 1 mile, 1:54 and 1/5 seconds, at the Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky.

Bet you didn’t know all of that information. Next time you are shooting the breeze, possibly with your fantasy horse racing buddies, now you know how to impress them.

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About the Author:
Brian Russell is a horse racing enthusiast and freelance writer for MyFantasyStable, the fantasy horse racing league where it’s free to draft a unique stable of horses, jockeys and trainers, and manage your stable from week-to-week.

Who Were The Greatest Jockeys of All Time?