Published:
October 12, 2003 Filed at 3:51 p.m. ET SAN MARINO, Calif. (AP) -- Bill Shoemaker, who rode four Kentucky Derby winners and was a commanding presence in thoroughbred racing for more than 40 years, died Sunday. He was 72.
Shoemaker died in his sleep at his suburban home near Santa Anita racetrack, according to longtime friend and trainer Paddy Gallagher. Known as ``The Shoe'' throughout his Hall of Fame career, the jockey was paralyzed from the neck down in 1991. Shoemaker broke jockey Longden's record of 6,032 career victories in 1970 and held it until Laffit Pincay Jr. broke Shoemaker's mark in 1999. Shoemaker finished with 8,883 wins.
Shoemaker became paralyzed when his car veered off the freeway about 30 miles from Los Angeles. He continued training horses for another six years despite being in a wheelchair. Only 4-foot-11, the superb athlete rode for 41 years.
In 1986, at 54, he became the oldest jockey to win a Kentucky Derby when he guided that wonderful horse Ferdinand along a small opening on the rail in a ride considered one of the greatest ever. That win came 21 years after his previous Derby win, aboard Lucky Debonair in 1965. He also won America's most famous race in 1959 with Tomy Lee and 1955 with Swaps.
"He started out life in a shoe box. His grandmother placed him in one seconds after his birth and put him behind a coal stove in the tiny frame house in Fabens, Texas,30 dusty miles south of El Paso,that August night in 1931. They fed him with an eyedropper until he was six months old. Bill Shoemaker never did get much bigger or noisier but, when they put him on a horse he became a giant." .... wrote Jim Murray for The Los Angeles Times.
A Magnificent Porcelain Collectors Plate by artist Fred Stone entitled:
THE OLD WARRIORS BILL SHOEMAKER ABOARD JOHN HENRY.
The following is a sample of the more than 150 words that adorn the back of the plate....."Shoemaker rode a horse as if he owed it money. Horses loved Bill and would do anything for him. He won more races than any rider that ever lived.From the humblest beginnings John Henry went on to fame and stardom to become the peoples horse".
Although the back of this plate reads...This plate is personally signed by Bill Shoemaker , IT WAS NEVER SIGNED. Tragically Bill Shoemaker only signed a small portion of the 4,500 plates in the edition prior to his accident which left him paralyzed. These are the plates which were never signed, making them very rare and sought after.
This porcelain plate is 10 1/4 inches in diameter, and is banded in a 24k gold border of running race horses. Accompanied with a certificate of authenticity.
MINT CONDITION still in original box.
