Ira G. "Babe" Hanford (February 24, 1918 – November 21, 2009) was an American jockey. He rode the winning horse in the

1936 Kentucky Derby The 1936 Kentucky Derby was the 62nd running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 2, 1936. Full results * Winning breeder: Morton L. Schwartz ( KY) References 1936 Kentucky Derby Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary ...

Biography

He was born in Fairbury, Nebraska, and was Jewish. He rode the winning horse

Bold Venture ''Bold Venture'' was a syndicated radio series starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall that aired from 1951 to 1952. Morton Fine and David Friedkin scripted the taped series for Bogart's Santana Productions. Synopsis Salty seadog Slate Sh ...

in the

. The colt he rode while still an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

was owned and bred by

Morton L. Schwartz Morton L. Schwartz (August, 1883 - January 11, 1953) was an American banker and financier who was a member of the New York Stock Exchange and a major owner and breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses. Horse racing Morton Schwartz owned Elsmeade ...

and trained by Hall of Fame inductee,

Max Hirsch Maximilian Justice "Max" Hirsch (July 12, 1880 - April 3, 1969) was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Born in Fredericksburg, Texas, and raised Roman Catholic, Hirsch became one of the most successful trainers in Thoroug ...

. His career was interrupted by four years of service with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Ira Hanford died of cancer on November 21, 2009, in

Ocala, Florida Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home t ...

at age 91. He was the brother of Kelso's Hall of Fame trainer,

Carl Hanford Carl Henry Hanford (March 12, 1916 - August 14, 2011) was a United States Hall of Fame trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses best known for guiding Kelso to five straight American Horse of the Year titles; no other horse has won more than three ti ...

External links

* Photos of 1) Ira Hanford & Jim Braddock and 2) Carl & Ira Hanfor
Suffolk Downs

References

1918 births 2009 deaths Deaths from cancer in Florida American jockeys United States Army personnel of World War II People from Fairbury, Nebraska 20th-century American Jews Jewish American sportspeople Jews from Nebraska {{US-horseracing-bio-stub