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| JOCKEYS  William Lee Shoemaker Laffit Pincay Jr. John Longden
Referred to as both "Bill" and "Willie," as well as "The Shoe", Shoemaker was born in the town of Fabens, Texas . At 2 pounds (1 kg), Shoemaker was so small at birth that he wasn't expected to live more than a few hours. Kept in a shoebox near a fire to stay warm, he survived, but remained small, growing to be 4 feet 11 inches (1.50 m) and weighing only 95 pounds (43 kg). His smallness proved a benefit, because he went on to become a giant in thoroughbred horse racing . His career as a jockey began in his teen years, with his first professional ride on March 19 , 1949 . The first of his eventual 8,833 career victories came a month later - on April 20 - on a racer named Shafter V. In 1951, he won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award . Shoemaker won 11 Triple Crown races during his career, but the Crown itself eluded him. The breakdown of wins is as follows:
Two of Shoemaker's most noted rides during his career were at the Kentucky Derby . He lost the 1957 Kentucky Derby , aboard the mount Gallant Man, when he stood up in the stirrups too soon, having misjudged the finish line. He and Gallant Man ended up finishing second to Bill Hartack aboard Iron Liege. At the 1986 Kentucky Derby , Shoemaker became the oldest jockey ever to win the race (at age 54) aboard the 18-1 outsider Ferdinand. The following year, he rode Ferdinand to a victory over Alysheba in the Breeders' Cup Classic to capture Horse of the Year honors. When Shoemaker earned his 6,033rd victory in September 1970 , he broke the record of jockey Johnny Longden . In 1999 , Shoemaker's own record of 8,833 career victories was broken by Panamanian-born Laffit Pincay Jr. Win #8,833, Shoemaker's last, came at Gulfstream Park, Florida on January 20 , 1990 aboard Beau Genius. Two weeks later, on February 3 , Shoemaker rode in his very last race as a jockey , at the Santa Anita racetrack. He finished 4th, aboard a horse by the name of Patchy Groundfog. All told, Bill Shoemaker rode in a record 40,350 races. Soon after retiring as a jockey , Shoemaker returned to the track as a trainer, where he had modest success. A car accident on April 8 , 1991 left him paralyzed from the neck down and wheelchair-bound, but he continued to train racehorses until his retirement in 1997 . Shoemaker was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1958 , and the phrase "It's a Shoein" was coined, indicating that an event was certain to happen - eg. "I made a mistake at work at its a shoein that'll i'll be fired for it"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laffit Pincay Jr. (born December 29 , 1946 in Panama City , Panama ) was a jockey based primarily in the United States, is a Hall of Fame jockey. Pincay began his riding career in his native Panama but came to race in the United States in 1966. Laffit Pincay, Jr. was voted the prestigious George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1970 that honors a rider whose career and personal conduct exemplifies the very best example of participants in the sport of thoroughbred racing. He has won more Eclipse Awards than any other rider, was the United States' leading jockey seven times. With his 8,834th win, on December 10 , 1999 at Hollywood Park in California , he broke the career victory record previously held by Bill Shoemaker . He won the Kentucky Derby in 1984 and three consecutive Belmont Stakes between 1982 and 1984. At the time of his retirement (in April 2003 , due to injury), he remained horse racing's winningest jockey , with 9,530 career victories. Laffit's retirement, due to injury, is the subject of a lawsuit currently pending in the Pasadena Superior Court. The lawsuit alleges negligence against, among others, Santa Anita Park, the track at which the he was injured. Is currently married to his second wife, Jeanine, with whom he has a son, John Laffit Pincay. Routinely recognized as the Babe Ruth/Wayne Gretzky/Michael Jordan of the horse racing industry. Pincay was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1975 .
--------------------------------------------------- John Eric Longden, born February 14 , 1907 in Wakefield , Yorkshire , England - died February 14 , 2003 in Banning, At the age of two, Johnny Longden's family emigrated to Canada , settling in Taber, Alberta . As a young man he worked in the mining industry but with a love of horses and horse-racing , his small stature led him to leave Canada in 1927 to seek opportunities as a jockey in California 's burgeoning racing scene. Based at Santa Anita Park , by 1956 he had become thoroughbred racing's winningest rider, breaking the record of 4,870 wins by British jockey Sir Gordon Richards (1904-1988). During his illustrious career, Longden rode many of the great thoroughbreds of the day and in 1943 he captured the elusive Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing winning the Kentucky Derby , the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes aboard Count Fleet . A founding member of the Jockeys' Guild in 1940, Johnny Longden was the United States' leading jockey in races won in 1938 , 1947 , and again in 1948 and was the leading jockey in purses won in 1943 and 1945 . He was voted the prestigious George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1952 that honors a rider whose career and personal conduct exemplifies the very best example of participants in the sport of thoroughbred racing. In 1958 , Longden was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and retired the following year as the jockey with the most wins in racing history with 6,032 victories from his 32,413 mounts. Following his retirement from riding, Longden turned to training and became the only person to ever win the Kentucky Derby as both a jockey and trainer when he captured with 1969 Derby with Majestic Prince . Longden was inducted into the Canadian Racing Hall of Fame in 1976 and in 1994 he was recognized further by the North American racing industry with a Special Eclipse Award . Johnny Longden died on his 96th birthday at his home in Banning, California. His body was cremated and his ashes given to a friend.
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