1. William Lee Shoemaker was an American jockey, considered one of the greatest.
20 Facts About Bill Shoemaker
1. 2.
At 38 ounces, Bill Shoemaker was so small at birth that he was not expected to survive the night.
3.
Bill Shoemaker won eleven Triple Crown races during his career, spanning four different decades, but the Crown itself eluded him.
4.
Two of Bill Shoemaker's most noted rides were in the Kentucky Derby.
5.
Bill Shoemaker lost the 1957 Kentucky Derby aboard Gallant Man, when he stood up in the stirrups too soon, having misjudged the finish line.
6.
When Bill Shoemaker earned his 6,033rd victory in September 1970, he broke jockey Johnny Longden's record.
7.
In 1999, Bill Shoemaker's own record of 8,833 career victories was broken by Panamanian-born Laffit Pincay Jr.
8.
Win number 8,833, Bill Shoemaker's last, came at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Florida, on January 20,1990, aboard Beau Genius.
9.
Bill Shoemaker finished fourth, in front of a record crowd, to Eddie Delahoussaye, on Exemplary Leader.
10.
All told, Bill Shoemaker rode in a record 40,350 races.
11.
Bill Shoemaker was quoted as saying that Forego was the best horse he had ever ridden.
12.
Bill Shoemaker rode three-time champion Spectacular Bid in the horse's final 13 races from 1979 to 1980 losing only once during that stretch.
13.
Bill Shoemaker continued to train racehorses until his retirement on November 2,1997.
14.
Bill Shoemaker was involved in a solo drunk-driving car crash on April 8,1991, in San Dimas, California, when he rolled over the Ford Bronco II he was driving.
15.
Bill Shoemaker sued the California Department of Transportation for not installing guard rails along the highway and Ford Motor Company for faulty vehicle design.
16.
Bill Shoemaker's Stalking Horse, Fire Horse, and Dark Horse all featured jockey-turned-sleuth Coley Killebrew using his racetrack experience in and about his restaurant and the horse world.
17.
Bill Shoemaker died on October 12,2003, of natural causes at his home in San Marino, California.
18.
Bill Shoemaker was survived by his adopted son and adopted daughter, Amanda.
19.
Bill Shoemaker was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1958.
20.
Bill Shoemaker was immortalized as part of a series of portraits by Andy Warhol in the mid-1970s.