Willie Shoemaker
Encyclopedia
William Lee Shoemaker was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

.

Referred to as "Bill", "Willie," and "The Shoe", William Lee Shoemaker was born in the town of Fabens, Texas
Fabens, Texas
Fabens is a census-designated place in El Paso County, Texas, United States. The population was 8,043 at the 2000 census. It is part of the El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. At 2.5 pounds (1.1 kg), Shoemaker was so small at birth that he was not expected to survive the night. Put in a shoebox in the oven to stay warm, he survived, but remained small, growing to 4 feet 11 inches (1.50 m) and weighing only 95 pounds (43 kg). His diminutive size proved an asset as he went on to become a giant in thoroughbred horse racing, despite being a high school dropout at El Monte High School
El Monte High School
El Monte High School, located in El Monte, California, is a high school of the El Monte Union High School District. It is one of the oldest high schools in the San Gabriel Valley. Founded in 1901, it began operation in a single, upstairs classroom in the old Lexington Avenue Grammar School, with an...

.

His career as a jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

 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 a racer named Shafter V. In 1951, he won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
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, on and off the racetrack.The award was created...

. At the age of 19, he was making so much money (as much as $2,500 each week) that Los Angeles Superior Court appointed attorney Horace Hahn
Horace Hahn
Horace L. Hahn was an American best known for working with Cecil B. DeMille on several films as a young man, including a supporting role in This Day and Age . He also served in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, and assisted Justice Robert H...

 as his guardian, with the consent of his parents. 30 years later he won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey
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 the United States.

Shoemaker won 11 Triple Crown
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...

 races during his career, spanning four different decades, but the Crown itself eluded him. The breakdown of these wins is as follows:
  • Kentucky Derby
    Kentucky Derby
    The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

    : Swaps
    Swaps (horse)
    Swaps was a California bred American thoroughbred racehorse. He was the son of Khaled, a stallion imported from the Aga Khan's stud in Europe. Swaps goes back to the immortal Man o' War, via his dam, Iron Reward, through the Triple Crown winner, War Admiral. In the list of the top 100 U.S...

     (1955), Tomy Lee
    Tomy Lee
    Tomy Lee was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1959 Kentucky Derby defeating Sword Dancer, First Landing, Royal Orbit and the filly Silver Spoon....

     (1959), Lucky Debonair
    Lucky Debonair
    Lucky Debonair was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1965 Kentucky Derby. He was bred by owners Dan and Ada Rice of Wheaton, Illinois at their Danada Farm satellite operation on Old Frankfort Pike near Lexington, Kentucky, a property that once was part of the legendary...

     (1965) and Ferdinand
    Ferdinand (horse)
    Ferdinand was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1986 Kentucky Derby and 1987 Breeders' Cup Classic. He was voted the 1987 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year.He entered stud in 1989 and was later sold to a breeding farm in Japan in 1994....

     (1986)
  • Preakness Stakes
    Preakness Stakes
    The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on 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 on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

    : Candy Spots
    Candy Spots
    Candy Spots was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that is best known for winning the 1963 Preakness Stakes and for coming in a close second and third, respectively, in the Belmont Stakes and Kentucky Derby to his rival Chateaugay...

     (1963) and Damascus
    Damascus (horse)
    Damascus was a thoroughbred race horse sired by Sword Dancer out of Kerala foaled at the Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Kentucky...

     (1967)
  • Belmont Stakes
    Belmont Stakes
    The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...

    : Gallant Man
    Gallant Man
    Gallant Man was a thoroughbred racehorse, named for a horse in a Don Ameche movie.- Career at Kentucky Derby:Gallant Man is remembered primarily for his upset loss in the 1957 Kentucky Derby...

     (1957), Sword Dancer (1959), Jaipur
    Jaipur (horse)
    Jaipur was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1962 Belmont Stakes and was voted that year's U.S. Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Male Horse....

     (1962), Damascus (1967) and Avatar
    Avatar (horse)
    Avatar was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1975 Belmont Stakes. He was bred and raced by San Antonio, Texas businessman Arthur A. Seeligson, Jr. and trained by Tommy Doyle.-Pedigree:...

     (1975)


Two of Shoemaker's most noted rides were in the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

. He lost the 1957 Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

 aboard Gallant Man
Gallant Man
Gallant Man was a thoroughbred racehorse, named for a horse in a Don Ameche movie.- Career at Kentucky Derby:Gallant Man is remembered primarily for his upset loss in the 1957 Kentucky Derby...

, when he stood up in the stirrups too soon, having misjudged the finish line. Gallant Man finished second to Iron Liege
Iron Liege
Iron Liege was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1957 Kentucky Derby. A son of Calumet Farm's leading sire Bull Lea, and out of the mare Iron Maiden, his damsire was the 1937 U.S...

, ridden by Bill Hartack
Bill Hartack
William John Hartack Jr. was a Hall of Fame jockey. He was born in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.Referred to by the media as both "Bill" and "Willie" during his racing career, Hartack grew up on his widowed father's farm in the Blacklick...

. At the 1986 Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

, Shoemaker became the oldest jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

 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
Alysheba
Alysheba was an American Thoroughbred race horse who won two legs of the Triple Crown in 1987. A successful sire, he produced 11 stakes winners....

 in the Breeders' Cup
Breeders' Cup
The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Thoroughbred horse races, most but not all Grade I, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, it expanded to two days. The location...

 Classic; Ferdinand later captured Horse of the Year honors.

Shoemaker rode the popular California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 horse Silky Sullivan
Silky Sullivan
Silky Sullivan was an American thoroughbred race horse best known for his come-from-behind racing style...

, 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."

The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

quoted Bill Shoemaker as saying that Spectacular Bid
Spectacular Bid
Spectacular Bid was an American Thoroughbred race horse. "The Bid" as he was known was one of the most dominant gallopers of his time...

 was the best he rode. http://www.latimes.com/sports/horseracing/la-sp-125horsesmar30,1,1949145.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-horse_raci&ctrack=1&cset=true

When Shoemaker earned his 6,033rd victory in September 1970, he broke jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

 Johnny Longden
Johnny Longden
John Eric Longden was an American Hall of Fame jockey. He was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England but his father wanted to build a better life for his family so in 1909 emigrated to Canada, settling in Taber, Alberta. By 1912 Longden Sr. had saved enough money to send for his wife and young son...

's record. In 1999, Shoemaker's own record of 8,833 career victories was broken by Panamanian-born Laffit Pincay Jr.; the record is currently held by Russell Baze
Russell Baze
Russell Avery Baze is a horse racing jockey. He holds the record for the most race wins in North American horse racing history, and is a member of the United States Racing Hall of Fame....

.

Win number 8,833, Shoemaker's last, came at Gulfstream Park
Gulfstream Park
Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino is a racetrack and county-approved racino in Hallandale Beach, Florida, in the United States. During its annual meet, which spans December through April, it is one of the most important venues for horse racing in America....

, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 on January 20, 1990 aboard Beau Genius
Beau Genius
Beau Genius is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse.-Background:Bred at Sovereign Farm by owners Joseph Shiewitz and Dr. Brian Davidson, he was sired by Bold Ruckus, one of the leading sires in Canada who was a grandson of the extremely important North American Champion sire, Bold Ruler...

. Two weeks later, on February 3, Shoemaker rode his last race on Patchy Groundfog, at Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...

. He finished 4th in front of a record crowd, to Eddie Delahoussaye
Eddie Delahoussaye
Edward J. Delahoussaye is a retired American Thoroughbred jockey from New Iberia, Louisiana.He began his career in 1968 and ten years later became the top American jockey with 384 wins...

. 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
Mike Venezia Memorial Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor given annually by the New York Racing Association to honor a jockeys who exemplifies extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship...

 for "extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship".

Soon after retiring as a jockey, 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 Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...

. Shoemaker was involved in a solo drunk-driving car accident on April 8, 1991, in San Dimas, California
San Dimas, California
San Dimas is a city located in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 33,371. The city historically took its name from San Dismas Canyon in the San Gabriel Mountains above the northern section of present day San Dimas...

, when he rolled over the Bronco II
Ford Bronco II
The Ford Bronco II was a compact SUV sold between 1984 and 1990. It was commissioned as a smaller complement to the full-size Bronco as well as to offer a Ford alternative to the Chevrolet S-10 Blazer, Jeep Cherokee , and Toyota 4Runner. The Bronco II was Ford's first compact SUV since the original...

 he was driving. The accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, and he thereafter used a wheelchair. Shoemaker sued Ford and Ford settled for US$1,000,000. He continued to train racehorses until his retirement on Nov. 2, 1997. His final stats as a trainer were 90 wins from 714 starters and earnings of $3.7 million.

Shoemaker was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
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 1958. He was immortalized as part of a series of portraits by Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...

 in the mid-1970s.
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