John Linus McAtee (October 5, 1898 – November 15, 1963) was an

American Hall of Fame The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is an outdoor sculpture gallery located on the grounds of Bronx Community College (BCC) in the Bronx, New York City. It is the first such hall of fame in the United States. Built in 1901 as part of the Univ ...

jockey in

Thoroughbred horse 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 ...

Biography

Born in

Frenchtown, New Jersey Frenchtown is a borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. Frenchtown is located along the banks of the Delaware River on the Hunterdon Plateau thirty two miles northwest of the state capital Trenton. As of the 2010 United States Ce ...

on October 5, 1898, he went by his middle name, Linus, but was nicknamed "Pony" by friends and would be called that by some in the press. 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 ...

, he rode for Commander J. K. L. Ross in Canada then was aboard his colt

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for the win in the 1916

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs ...

. Called one of the best riders of his era by 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 ...

, McAtee developed into a superior tactician who won two

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-yea ...

s and who was the United States Champion Jockey in money earned for 1928.Churchill Downs Incorporated. kenuckyderby.com Annual Leading Jockeys
Retrieved June 23, 2018 After retiring from racing in 1932, a comeback attempt three years later ended after he suffered a serious foot injury. In 1956, he was inducted in the United States' Racing Hall of Fame. McAtee died on November 15, 1963.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAtee, J. Linus 1898 births 1963 deaths American jockeys American Champion jockeys United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees People from Frenchtown, New Jersey