Donald MacBeth (August 29, 1949 – March 1, 1987) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), 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 ...

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Thoroughbred racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

. Born in

Red Deer, Alberta Red Deer is a city in Alberta, Canada, located midway on the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. Red Deer serves central Alberta, and its key industries include health care, retail trade, construction, oil and gas, hospitality, manufacturing and educati ...

, Macbeth rode horses at

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racetrack A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

s before going to race in the

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. Among horses of note, he rode

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, winner of the 1981

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and

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

awards for Outstanding Two-Year-Old Male Horse in Canada and the United States. In

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, MacBeth rode Half Iced to victory in the 1982

Japan Cup The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions with ...

and

Chief's Crown Chief's Crown (April 7, 1982 – April 29, 1997) was an American-bred Thoroughbred race horse who won the 1984 Breeders' Cup Juvenile and was voted the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Two-Year-Old Male Horse. He later became a successful sire. Ba ...

to a win in the 1984

Breeders' Cup Juvenile The Breeders' Cup Juvenile is a Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old colts and geldings raced on dirt. It is held annually in late October or early November at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup W ...

, the 1985

Blue Grass Stakes The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is a horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The race is ru ...

, and the 1985

Marlboro Cup The Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap was a Thoroughbred horse race first run in September 1973 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. A Grade 1 race for horses 3 years old and up, it was raced over a distance of miles on a dirt track. The race c ...

. He also won the prestigious Washington, D.C. International in 1985 aboard

Vanlandingham Vanlandingham (foaled April 28, 1981, in Kentucky) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Background Owned by Arkansas businessman John Ed Anthony, Vanlandingham was bred and raced by the Loblolly Stable. He was conditioned for racin ...

for trainer

Shug McGaughey Claude R. "Shug" McGaughey III (born January 6, 1951) is an American Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse trainer. Biography McGaughey began working as a trainer in 1979 and to date has won more than 240 graded stakes races. In 1986, he got his big ...

. A 1991 Southern Florida ''

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'' newspaper story referred to MacBeth as being "among the most respected of jockeys, known well for his gentle nature and integrity." MacBeth was the leading jockey at

Monmouth Park Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease ...

for three years running between 1978 and 1980. He won 2,764 races before

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

ended his racing career. For his significant contribution to the sport of horse racing, MacBeth received the

Avelino Gomez Memorial Award The Avelino Gomez Memorial Award is a Canadian thoroughbred horse racing honour given annually to a jockey who is Canadian-born, Canadian-raised, or a regular in the country for more than five years, who has made significant contributions to the spo ...

and the

George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct ...

. MacBeth died of cancer in

Reddick, Florida Reddick is a town in Marion County, Florida, Marion County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Ocala, Florida, Ocala Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 US census, the town populatio ...

, where he lived, on March 1, 1987. The following year he was inducted posthumously into the

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 to honour those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness racing, harness and Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse racing in Canada. It is located at Woodbine ...

MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund

After doing a show at a racetrack near

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, devoted fan and sometime racehorse owner,

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Tim Conway Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway (December 15, 1933 – May 14, 2019) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and director. Conway is perhaps best known as a regular cast member (1975–1978) on the TV comedy ''The Carol Burnett Show'' where he port ...

had wanted to donate his fee to help former jockeys experiencing hard times, but learned that no such fund existed. In cooperation with Don MacBeth's widow, Conway became a co-founder, Vice President, and member of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund to assist injured and disabled riders. As of March 2007, the Fund had assisted more than 1,800 riders.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macbeth, Don Canadian jockeys American jockeys Avelino Gomez Memorial Award winners Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Red Deer, Alberta Canadian people of Scottish descent 1949 births 1987 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in Florida Canadian emigrants to the United States