William Lee Shoemaker (August 19, 1931 – October 12, 2003) was an American

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

. For 29 years he held the world record for total professional jockey victories.

Early life

Referred to as "Bill", "Willie," and "The Shoe", William Lee Shoemaker was born in the town of Fabens, Texas. At , Shoemaker was so small at birth that he was not expected to survive the night. Put in a shoebox on the oven to stay warm, he survived, but remained small, growing to and weighing . His diminutive size proved an asset as he went on to become a giant in thoroughbred horse racing, despite dropping out of El Monte High School in El Monte, California.

Jockey career

Shoemaker's career as a

began in his teenage 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, aboard Shafter V, at Golden Gate Fields in

Albany, California Albany ( ) is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northwestern Alameda County, California. The population was 20,271 at the 2020 census. History In 1908, a group of local women protested the dumping of Berkeley garbage in their ...

. In 1951, he won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. At the age of 19, he was making so much money (as much as $2,500 each week) the Los Angeles Superior Court appointed attorney

Horace Hahn Horace L. Hahn (July 23, 1915 – January 31, 2003) was an American actor best known for working with Cecil B. DeMille on several films as a young man, including a supporting role in ''This Day and Age (film), This Day and Age'' (1933). He also ...

as his guardian, with the consent of his parents. Thirty years later, he won the

Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey The Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey is an American thoroughbred horse racing honor for jockeys first awarded in 1971. Part of the Eclipse Awards program, it is awarded annually. In 1995, Russell Baze was honored with the Eclipse Special Award ...

in the United States. Shoemaker won eleven Triple Crown races during his career, spanning four different decades, but the Crown itself eluded him. The breakdown of these wins is as follows: *

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

: Swaps (1955), Tomy Lee (1959), Lucky Debonair (1965) and Ferdinand (1986) * Preakness Stakes: Candy Spots (1963) and

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

(1967) *

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

: Gallant Man (1957), Sword Dancer (1959), Jaipur (1962), Damascus (1967) and Avatar (1975) Two of Shoemaker's most noted rides were in the

. He lost the 1957

aboard Gallant Man, when he stood up in the stirrups too soon, having misjudged the finish line, where Gallant Man finished second to Iron Liege, ridden by

Bill Hartack William John Hartack Jr. (December 9, 1932 – November 26, 2007), born in Colver, Pennsylvania, was a Hall of Fame jockey. Colver is in the northwestern part of Cambria Township, 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Ebensburg, the county seat. ...

. At the 1986

, Shoemaker became the oldest

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; Ferdinand later captured Horse of the Year honors. Shoemaker rode the popular California horse Silky Sullivan, about which he is quoted as saying: "You just had to let him run his race ... and if he decided to win it, you'd better hold on because you'd be moving faster than a train." When Shoemaker earned his 6,033rd victory in September 1970, he broke

Johnny Longden John Eric "Johnny" Longden (February 14, 1907 – February 14, 2003) was an American Hall of Fame and National Champion jockey and a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses who was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England. His father emigrated to ...

's record. In 1999, Shoemaker's own record of 8,833 career victories was broken by Panamanian-born

Laffit Pincay Jr. Laffit Alejandro Pincay Jr. (born December 29, 1946, in Panama City, Panama) was once flat racing's winningest all-time jockey, still holding third place many years after his retirement. He competed primarily in the United States. Career Pinca ...

; in 2006 Russell Baze tied Pincay's record. Win number 8,833, Shoemaker's last, came at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Florida, on January 20, 1990, aboard Beau Genius. Two weeks later, on February 3, Shoemaker rode his last race on Patchy Groundfog, at Santa Anita Park in

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...

. He finished fourth, in front of a record crowd, to Eddie Delahoussaye, on Exemplary Leader. All told, Bill Shoemaker rode in a record 40,350 races. In 1990, he was voted the

Mike Venezia Memorial Award Mike Venezia Memorial Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor given annually by the New York Racing Association to honor a jockey who exemplifies extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship. The award was created in 1989 to honor the ...

for "extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship". The Marlboro Cup of 1976 at

Belmont Park Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905. It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...

proved to be maybe his greatest racing achievement, and it was upon the mighty Forego. Forego's drive started from eighth position out of eleven horses on the backstretch. It culminated with a tremendous charge through the muddy middle-of-the-track stretch run, leading to a victory by a nose over the dead-game Honest Pleasure. Shoemaker was quoted as saying that Forego was the best horse he had ever ridden. Shoemaker rode three-time champion Spectacular Bid in the horse's final 13 races from 1979 to 1980 losing only once during that stretch. This included Spectacular Bid's perfect nine for nine 1980 season, culminating in a walkover in the Woodward Stakes. In his autobiography ''Shoemaker'' (1988) he called Spectacular Bid the greatest horse he rode in his storied career.

After 1990 jockey retirement

Soon after retiring as a jockey in 1990, Shoemaker returned to the track as a trainer, where he had modest success, training for such clients as Gulfstream magnate Allen Paulson and composer

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

. He continued to train racehorses until his retirement on November 2, 1997. His final stats as a trainer were 90 wins from 714 starters and earnings of $3.7 million. Shoemaker was involved in a solo drunk-driving car crash on April 8, 1991, in San Dimas, California, when he rolled over the Ford Bronco II he was driving. The accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, and he thereafter used a wheelchair. Even though a blood sample drawn 98 minutes after he entered the hospital showed his blood-alcohol at .13, above California's legal limit of .05, Shoemaker did not accept blame for the crash. He sued the California Department of Transportation for not installing guard rails along the highway and Ford Motor Company for faulty vehicle design. Ford settled with Shoemaker for $1,000,000. Shoemaker authored three murder mysteries. They were often compared to the large stable of best-selling horse mysteries by fellow jockey/author Dick Francis. Shoemaker's ''Stalking Horse'' (1994), ''Fire Horse'' (1995), and ''Dark Horse'' (1996) all featured jockey-turned-sleuth Coley Killebrew using his racetrack experience in and about his restaurant and the horse world. Shoemaker died on October 12, 2003, of natural causes at his home in San Marino, California. He was 72 years old.

Honors

Shoemaker was inducted into the

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...

in 1958. He was immortalized as part of a series of portraits by Andy Warhol in the mid-1970s.Mueller, Rich (April 28, 2007)
"Warhol's Giant 'Sports Cards' for Sale"
''Sports Collectors Daily''.

References

External links