Earlie Stancel Fires (born March 19, 1947) is an American retired

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

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 ...

. Fires began riding professionally in 1964 and led all American apprentices in wins that year with 224. He retired on September 21, 2008, having won 6,470 races at racetracks across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. In 1983, and again 1987, Fires set a record for

Arlington Park Arlington Park (formerly known as Arlington International Racecourse) is a former horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Once called the ''Arlington Park Jockey Club'', it was located adjacent to the Illinois Rou ...

by winning seven races in a single day of racing. He is Arlington Park's all-time leading rider with 2,886 wins and holds the record for most wins in that track's Lincoln Heritage Handicap with seven. He also has the distinction of riding in the Kentucky Derby after a 24-year hiatus, the longest gap for a jockey. He rode in the 100th Kentucky Derby in 1974 and returned to Churchill Downs in 1998, at the age of 51, to ride in the 124th Kentucky Derby. In 1991, Fires was voted the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, given to a jockey who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack. He was inducted in 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 horse racing, Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and Horse trainer, trainers. In 1955, the museum ...

in 2001 and following its creation, the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. He retired in 2008."Racing Hall of Fame jockey Earlie Fires retires"
/ref> Earlie Fires' brother is trainer William H. Fires.

References

External links

Earlie Fires at the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

Earlie Fires at the NTRA
1947 births Living people American jockeys United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees People from Poinsett County, Arkansas {{US-horseracing-bio-stub