Editing Bill Shoemaker

{{Short description|American Champion jockey (1931–2003)}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox horseracing personality
|name  = Bill Shoemaker
|image  = Bill Shoemaker, 1965 (retouched).jpg
|caption  = Shoemaker in 1965
|occupation  = [[Jockey]]
|birth_place = [[Fabens, Texas]], U.S.
|birth_date  = {{Birth date|1931|8|19}}
|death_date  = {{death date and age|2003|10|12|1931|8|19}}
|death_place = [[San Marino, California]], U.S.
|career wins  = 8,833
|race  = {{ubl|[[Arlington Handicap]] (4)|[[Bing Crosby Handicap]] (3)|[[Blue Grass Stakes]] (6)|[[Carleton F. Burke Handicap]] (7)|[[Clement L. Hirsch Handicap]] (4)|[[Del Mar Debutante Stakes]] (5)|[[Del Mar Futurity]] (6)|[[Del Mar Handicap]] (8)|[[Del Mar Oaks]] (4)|[[Hollywood Derby]] (8)|[[Hollywood Gold Cup]] (8)|[[Jockey Club Gold Cup]] (4)|[[Oak Tree Invitational Stakes]] (8)|[[Palomar Breeders' Cup Handicap]] (5)|[[Ramona Handicap]] (5)|[[San Diego Handicap]] (4)|[[San Luis Obispo Handicap]] (8)|[[Santa Anita Derby]] (8)|[[Santa Anita Handicap]] (11)|[[United Nations Handicap]] (3)}}
'''[[American Classic Races|American Classics]] / [[Breeders' Cup]] wins''': {{ubl|
[[Kentucky Derby]] (1955, 1959, 1965, 1986)|[[Preakness Stakes]] (1963, 1967)|[[Belmont Stakes]] (1957, 1959, 1962, 1967, 1975)|[[Breeders' Cup Classic]] (1987)}}
|awards  = {{ubl|[[United States Champion Jockey by earnings]] (10 years)|[[United States Champion Jockey by wins]] (1950, 1953, 1954, 1958, 1959)|[[George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award]] (1951)|[[Big Sport of Turfdom Award]] (1969)|[[Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey]] (1981)|[[Eclipse Award of Merit]] (1981)|[[Mike Venezia Memorial Award]] (1990)}}
|honors  = {{ubl|[[National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame]] (1958)|[[Fair Grounds Racing Hall of Fame]] (1971)|[[Shoemaker Mile Stakes]] at [[Hollywood Park Racetrack|Hollywood Park]]|[[Statue|Lifesize bust]] at [[Santa Anita Park]]}}
|horses  = {{cslist|[[Swaps (horse)|Swaps]]|[[Round Table (horse)|Round Table]]|[[Northern Dancer]]|[[Buckpasser]]|[[Ack Ack (horse)|Ack Ack]]|[[Ferdinand (horse)|Ferdinand]]|[[Cicada (horse)|Cicada]]| [[Damascus (horse)|Damascus]]|[[Gallant Man]]|[[Sword Dancer]]|[[Forego]]|[[Jaipur (horse)|Jaipur]]|[[John Henry (horse)|John Henry]]|[[Spectacular Bid]]|[[Gamely]]|[[Silky Sullivan]]|[[Candy Spots]]|[[Tom Rolfe]]}}
|updated = March 6, 2007
}}

'''William Lee Shoemaker''' (August 19, 1931 – October 12, 2003) was an American [[jockey]], considered one of the greatest. For 29 years he held the world record for the most professional jockey victories.

==Early life==
[[File:Jayne Mansfield with jockeys in 1957.jpg|thumb|[[Jayne Mansfield]] with (left to right) jockeys [[Johnny Longden]], [[Eddie Arcaro]] and Willie Shoemaker in 1957]]
Referred to as "Bill", "Willie," and "The Shoe", William Lee Shoemaker was born in the town of [[Fabens, Texas]]. At {{convert|38|oz|kg}}, Shoemaker was so small at birth that he was not expected to survive the night. Put in a shoebox on the oven to stay warm, he survived, but remained small, growing to {{convert|4|ft|10|in|m}} and weighing {{convert|91|lb|kg}}. His diminutive size proved an asset in [[thoroughbred horse racing]], of which he went on to become a giant, despite dropping out of [[El Monte High School]] in [[El Monte, California]].

==Jockey career==
Shoemaker's career as a [[jockey]] 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 Shafter V, at [[Golden Gate Fields]] in [[Albany, California]].<ref>[http://www.goldengatefields.com/about/about-golden-gate-fields "About Golden Gate Fields"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120101124421/http://www.goldengatefields.com/about/about-golden-gate-fields |date=2012-01-01 }} ''Golden Gate Fields''. Retrieved February 7, 2012</ref> In 1951, he won the [[George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award]].

At the age of 19, he was making so much money (as much as $2,500 each week) the Los Angeles Superior Court appointed attorney [[Horace Hahn]] as his guardian, with the consent of his parents.<ref>{{cite news| newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]| date=June 2, 1951| page=11| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109454667/pittsburgh-post-gazette/| title=Shoemaker Makes Too Much Money}}</ref>

Thirty years later, he won the [[Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey]] in the United States.
  
Shoemaker won eleven [[Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing|Triple Crown]] races during his career, spanning four different decades, but the Crown itself eluded him. The breakdown of these wins is as follows:
* [[Kentucky Derby]]: [[Swaps (horse)|Swaps]] (1955), [[Tomy Lee]] (1959), [[Lucky Debonair]] (1965) and [[Ferdinand (horse)|Ferdinand]] (1986)
* [[Preakness Stakes]]: [[Candy Spots]] (1963) and [[Damascus (horse)|Damascus]] (1967)
* [[Belmont Stakes]]: [[Gallant Man]] (1957), [[Sword Dancer]] (1959), [[Jaipur (horse)|Jaipur]] (1962), Damascus (1967) and [[Avatar (horse)|Avatar]] (1975)

Two of Shoemaker's most noted rides were in the [[Kentucky Derby]]. He lost the 1957 [[Kentucky Derby]] aboard [[Gallant Man]], when he stood up in the stirrups too soon, having misjudged the finish line. This caused Gallant Man to briefly lose his stride and slowed his rush for the wire, and he finished second to [[Iron Liege]], ridden by [[Bill Hartack]]. At the 1986 [[Kentucky Derby]], Shoemaker became the oldest [[jockey]] 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]] in the [[Breeders' Cup]] Classic; Ferdinand later captured Horse of the Year honors.

Shoemaker rode the popular [[California]] horse [[Silky Sullivan]], 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."<ref>{{cite web| title=Silky Sullivan didn't come from behind in the 1958 Kentucky Derby| url=https://kentuckyderbytours.com/silky-sullivan-didnt-come-from-behind-in-the-1958-kentucky-derby/| date=April 28, 2014| website=Kentucky Derby Tours| agency=[[Associated Press]]| access-date=September 12, 2022}}</ref>

When Shoemaker earned his 6,033rd victory in September 1970, he broke [[jockey]] [[Johnny Longden]]'s record.<ref>{{cite news| title=Shoemaker Breaks Record| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/08/archives/shoemaker-breaks-record-jockey-registers-victory-no-6033-triumph-in.html| date=September 8, 1970| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| access-date=September 12, 2022| url-access=subscription}}</ref> In 1999, Shoemaker's own record of 8,833 career victories was broken by Panamanian-born [[Laffit Pincay Jr.]]; in 2006 [[Russell Baze]] tied Pincay's record.<ref>{{cite news| title=Pincay Breaks Shoemaker's Record| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/horse/daily/dec99/11/pincay11.htm| first=Beth| last=Harris|
agency=Associated Press| date=December 10, 1999| newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]| access-date=September 12, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=Russell Baze ties Pincay's record| url=https://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Russell-Baze-ties-Pincay-s-record-1221217.php| date=November 30, 2006| first=Beth| last=Harris| agency=Associated Press| newspaper=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]| access-date=September 12, 2022}}</ref>

Win number 8,833, Shoemaker's last, came at [[Gulfstream Park]] in [[Hallandale, Florida]], on January 20, 1990, aboard [[Beau Genius]]. Two weeks later, on February 3, Shoemaker rode his last race on Patchy Groundfog, at [[Santa Anita Park]] in [[Arcadia, California]]. He finished fourth, in front of a record crowd, to [[Eddie Delahoussaye]], on Exemplary Leader. All told, Bill Shoemaker rode in a record 40,350 races. In 1990, he was voted the [[Mike Venezia Memorial Award]] for "extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship".

The [[Marlboro Cup]] of 1976 at [[Belmont Park]] proved to be maybe his greatest racing achievement, and it was upon the mighty [[Forego]]. Forego's drive started from eighth position out of eleven horses on the backstretch. It culminated with a tremendous charge through the muddy middle-of-the-track stretch run, leading to a victory by a nose over the dead-game [[Honest Pleasure]]. Shoemaker was quoted as saying that Forego was the best horse he had ever ridden.

Shoemaker rode three-time champion [[Spectacular Bid]] in the horse's final 13 races from 1979 to 1980 losing only once during that stretch. This included Spectacular Bid's perfect nine for nine 1980 season, culminating in a walkover in the [[Woodward Stakes]]. In his autobiography ''Shoemaker'' (1988) he called Spectacular Bid the greatest horse he rode in his storied career.

==After 1990 jockey retirement==
Soon after retiring as a jockey in 1990, 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]].

He continued to train racehorses until his retirement on November 2, 1997. His final stats as a trainer were 90 wins from 714 starters and earnings of $3.7 million.

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. The accident left him paralyzed from the neck down, and he thereafter used a wheelchair. Even though a blood sample drawn 98 minutes after he entered the hospital showed his blood-alcohol at .13, above California's legal limit of .08, Shoemaker did not accept blame for the crash.  He sued the [[California Department of Transportation]] for not installing guard rails along the highway and [[Ford Motor Company]] for faulty vehicle design (as the Bronco II was infamous for it higher rollover risk).  Ford settled with Shoemaker for [[United States dollar|$]]1,000,000.<ref>{{cite news| title=From Fame to Shame| url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1993/04/19/from-fame-to-shame-bill-shoemaker-a-casualty-of-his-own-drunk-driving-has-lost-respect-by-launching-lawsuits-to-shift-the-blame-for-his-tragic-folly| first=William| last=Nack| date=April 19, 1993| magazine=[[Sports Illustrated]]| access-date=September 12, 2022}}</ref>

Shoemaker authored three murder mysteries. They were often compared to the large stable of best-selling horse mysteries by fellow jockey/author [[Dick Francis]]. Shoemaker's ''Stalking Horse'' (1994), ''Fire Horse'' (1995), and ''Dark Horse'' (1996) all featured jockey-turned-sleuth Coley Killebrew using his racetrack experience in and about his restaurant and the horse world.

Shoemaker died on October 12, 2003, of natural causes at his home in San Marino, California. He was 72 years old.<ref>{{cite news| title=Bill Shoemaker, Famed Jockey, Dies| first=Adam| last=Bernstein| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2003/10/13/bill-shoemaker-famed-jockey-dies/50efda6e-b80b-49b4-a021-5d97e9bac797/| newspaper=The Washington Post| date=October 13, 2003| access-date=September 12, 2022}}</ref> He was survived by his adopted son and adopted daughter, Amanda.

==Honors==
Shoemaker was inducted into the [[National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame]] in 1958. He was immortalized as part of a series of portraits by [[Andy Warhol]] in the mid-1970s.<ref>Mueller, Rich (April 28, 2007). [http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/latest/warhols-giant-sports-cards-for-sale.html "Warhol's Giant 'Sports Cards' for Sale"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070529135325/http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/latest/warhols-giant-sports-cards-for-sale.html |date=2007-05-29}} ''Sports Collectors Daily''.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Shoemaker, Bill and Nagler, Barney. ''Shoemaker'' (1988) [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] {{ISBN|0-385-23945-9}}
* [https://www.espn.com/sportscentury/features/00016470.html ''Shoemaker made racing history'' by Ron Flatter] ESPN Story 
* Del Mar Media Guide

{{s-start}}
{{succession box | title=[[Jockeys' Guild]] President | before=[[Mike Venezia]] | years=1981-1989 | after=[[Jerry D. Bailey|Jerry Bailey]]}}
{{succession box | title=Most victories in Horse-racing | before=[[Johnny Longden]] | years=8,833 | after=[[Laffit Pincay, Jr.]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shoemaker, Bill}}
[[Category:American jockeys]]
[[Category:American Champion jockeys]]
[[Category:American racehorse trainers]]
[[Category:American people of Dutch descent]]
[[Category:United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Eclipse Award winners]]
[[Category:People with tetraplegia]]
[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2003 deaths]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from El Monte, California]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Texas]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from El Paso, Texas]]