lynette
10-12-2003, 03:15 PM
Sunday, October 12
'The Shoe' rode for 41 years, won 8,883 times
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Associated Press
SAN MARINO, Calif. -- Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker, whose 8,883 victories are the second-most in thoroughbred racing history, died Sunday. He was 72.
Shoemaker died in his sleep at his suburban home near Santa Anita racetrack, according to longtime friend and trainer Paddy Gallagher.
He had been paralyzed from the neck down since 1991, when his car veered off the freeway in San Dimas, Calif., about 30 miles from Los Angeles.
Only 4-feet-11, the superb athlete known simply as "The Shoe" throughout his career, rode for 41 years, most of them in Southern California, considered to be the most competitive circuit in America.
Shoemaker was born in Fabens, Texas, on Aug. 19, 1931, so small he was kept as an infant in a shoebox near a fire to stay warm.
He boxed and wrestled in high school but decided to become a jockey because of his size. He dropped out of school to ride for $75 a month plus room and board at a La Puente, Calif., horse ranch.
Shoemaker won his first race April 20, 1949, at Golden Gate Fields near San Francisco aboard Shafter V. His final victory came Jan. 20, 1990, at Gulfstream Park aboard Beau Genius.
In 1951, still an apprentice, he was the second-leading rider in the nation with 219 victories. He led the country in victories five times in the next 10 years.
Although known mostly as Willie, he always preferred to be called Bill. The preference was obvious by the initials emblazoned on the tack box and gates throughout his barn.
"My wife likes that better than Willie, so that's what we did," he said at the time. "If that's the most important thing I have to worry about, I'll be very happy."
He was emphatic at that time when asked if he missed riding.
"No, I went 40 years," he said. "That's long enough. It's time to do something else."
Shoemaker won his first race as a trainer with Tempest Cloud, an upset winner who broke her maiden in the fourth race at Hollywood Park in June 1990.
Two days after being released from a hospital where he underwent rehabilitation after the 1991 car accident, Shoemaker returned to train at Santa Anita. He retired from training in 1997, after winning 90 races and nearly $3.7 million.
Shoemaker was a sporadic visitor to Southern California racetracks in recent years. He was present at Hollywood Park on Dec. 10, 1999, when Laffit Pincay Jr. broke Shoemaker's record for victories with No. 8,834. Pincay was forced to retire in April after breaking his neck in an accident at Santa Anita.
Shoemaker loved to ride -- at any time.
In 1965, he was returning to his hotel from a party at 4:30 a.m. on the day of the Kentucky Derby. He was accompanied by a friend, who had a horse stabled at Churchill Downs.
The friend suggested they go to the track and that Shoemaker work out the horse. He did, wearing a tuxedo, then 12 hours later rode Lucky Debonair to his third Derby victory.
Shoemaker is survived by his former wife, Cindy, and only child Amanda.
'The Shoe' rode for 41 years, won 8,883 times
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press
SAN MARINO, Calif. -- Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker, whose 8,883 victories are the second-most in thoroughbred racing history, died Sunday. He was 72.
Shoemaker died in his sleep at his suburban home near Santa Anita racetrack, according to longtime friend and trainer Paddy Gallagher.
He had been paralyzed from the neck down since 1991, when his car veered off the freeway in San Dimas, Calif., about 30 miles from Los Angeles.
Only 4-feet-11, the superb athlete known simply as "The Shoe" throughout his career, rode for 41 years, most of them in Southern California, considered to be the most competitive circuit in America.
Shoemaker was born in Fabens, Texas, on Aug. 19, 1931, so small he was kept as an infant in a shoebox near a fire to stay warm.
He boxed and wrestled in high school but decided to become a jockey because of his size. He dropped out of school to ride for $75 a month plus room and board at a La Puente, Calif., horse ranch.
Shoemaker won his first race April 20, 1949, at Golden Gate Fields near San Francisco aboard Shafter V. His final victory came Jan. 20, 1990, at Gulfstream Park aboard Beau Genius.
In 1951, still an apprentice, he was the second-leading rider in the nation with 219 victories. He led the country in victories five times in the next 10 years.
Although known mostly as Willie, he always preferred to be called Bill. The preference was obvious by the initials emblazoned on the tack box and gates throughout his barn.
"My wife likes that better than Willie, so that's what we did," he said at the time. "If that's the most important thing I have to worry about, I'll be very happy."
He was emphatic at that time when asked if he missed riding.
"No, I went 40 years," he said. "That's long enough. It's time to do something else."
Shoemaker won his first race as a trainer with Tempest Cloud, an upset winner who broke her maiden in the fourth race at Hollywood Park in June 1990.
Two days after being released from a hospital where he underwent rehabilitation after the 1991 car accident, Shoemaker returned to train at Santa Anita. He retired from training in 1997, after winning 90 races and nearly $3.7 million.
Shoemaker was a sporadic visitor to Southern California racetracks in recent years. He was present at Hollywood Park on Dec. 10, 1999, when Laffit Pincay Jr. broke Shoemaker's record for victories with No. 8,834. Pincay was forced to retire in April after breaking his neck in an accident at Santa Anita.
Shoemaker loved to ride -- at any time.
In 1965, he was returning to his hotel from a party at 4:30 a.m. on the day of the Kentucky Derby. He was accompanied by a friend, who had a horse stabled at Churchill Downs.
The friend suggested they go to the track and that Shoemaker work out the horse. He did, wearing a tuxedo, then 12 hours later rode Lucky Debonair to his third Derby victory.
Shoemaker is survived by his former wife, Cindy, and only child Amanda.