Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro
Citation, Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro up, wins the Kentucky Derby, May 1, 1948
Eddie Arcaro (1916–1997) is regarded by many as the greatest jockey in the history of American Thoroughbred racing. He tallied more wins in classic stakes races than any other jockey and is still the only jock to have won the Triple Crown twice—Whirlaway (1941) and Citation (1948). He has the most wins of any jockey in the Belmont (six) and the Preakness (six) and is tied with Bill Hartack for Kentucky Derby wins (five). He won 4,779 of his 24,092 races and earned a record-setting $30 million in purses.
On November 23, 1954 Arcaro experienced his first foxhunt when he appeared at a meet of the Piedmont Fox Hounds in Philomont, Virginia, as reported by Liz Smith in Sports Illustrated’s December 27 issue of that year:
“Jockey Arcaro, who had never heretofore assayed anything more uneven than the backstretch at Aqueduct, showed up for the hunt as the guest of Mrs. Richard Lunn (the former Liz Whitney) perched high on a huge hunter named William S. Hart. He was costumed in a cap, a windbreaker, and jodhpurs, and looked, among all the big folks in pink coats, something like an exercise boy up on an elephant. His stance was definitely lopsided, for he rode with “acey-deucey stirrups” (the right higher than the left, racing style). Said he, grinning, “I can’t get legitimate overnight.” But he spurred resolutely to the head of the field and took the first jump (a 4-foot 4-inch fence) like a flea on a kangaroo.
He was startled, nevertheless, by the way William S. Hart went sailing through the air, and in the next flat stretch he hustled along beside top Brush Rider Emmett Roberts and begged plaintively for advice on staying alive. “Grab a handful of mane and hang on until you get the swing of it,” cried Roberts. Arcaro was shocked. “Right out here in front of everyone?” he asked incredulously. “Sure,” bawled Roberts. “Go ahead.” Arcaro hung on. But after a few more jumps his years on horses began to tell; he got “his feet off the dashboard” and leaned into the jumps. In one 80-minute, 15-mile chase after a red fox (which finally retreated to its den) Arcaro took twenty-five assorted stone walls, fences, and chicken coops without blinking an eye.
“When the day was done, the old amateurs of hunting were unanimous in their judgment of Old Pro Arcaro: “Cool head, stout heart, good hands, firm seat.” Arcaro, however, was still breathing a little hard last week. He confessed: “I sure felt like a gone guinea going over that first one.”
Re-Posted June 12, 2022