Tod Sloan (jockey)
| Tod Sloan | |
|---|---|
_circa_1890-1900.jpg) |
|
| Occupation | Jockey |
| Born | August 10, 1874 Bunker Hill, Indiana, United States |
| Died | December 21, 1933 (age 56) in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A |
| Career wins | Not found |
| Major racing wins | |
|
Manhattan Handicap (1896) 1,000 Guineas (1899) Ascot Gold Cup (1900) |
|
| Honours | |
| United States Racing Hall of Fame (1955) | |
| Significant horses | |
| Hamburg, Clifford, Sibola, Belmar, Merman, | |
Manhattan Handicap (1896)
Lawrence Realization Stakes (1898)
James Forman "Tod" Sloan (August 10, 1874 - December 21, 1933) was an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1955.
Sloan was born in Bunker Hill, Indiana, near Kokomo, the son of a Union Army soldier. He was a tiny and frail child, and after his mother died when he was five, his father sent him to live with a nearby family. He was still a young boy when he struck out on his own, taking jobs in the nearby gas and oil fields. For a time he ended up working at a horse racing stable in St. Louis, but later in Kansas City was employed by a thoroughbred horse trainer who encouraged him to take advantage of his diminutive stature and become a jockey.
By 1886, Sloan was working at Latonia Race Track in Covington, Kentucky, where trainer Sam Hildreth gave him the opportunity to ride one of his horses. Sloan's performance was not impressive, and his horse finished in the back of the pack. However, he persisted and a few years later was riding at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, and on March 6, 1889, scored his first win there.
In 1893, Sloan went to race in northern California where he enjoyed considerable success. In 1896 he moved to New York City after being hired by "Pittsburgh Phil", where within a short time he was the dominant rider in the thoroughbred racing circuit on the East Coast. Despite his many career victories, Sloan said that Hamburg (1895–1915) was the only great horse he ever rode. Sloan took over as jockey for Hamburg when the horse's career was near its end after the three-year-old had been soundly defeated in the Belmont Stakes. Ridden by Sloan, the horse won the Lawrence Realization, easily defeating Kentucky Derby winner Plaudit, then scored the most impressive win of his career in the 2¼-mile American Brighton Cup. Such were Sloan's abilities that in 1896 he won nearly 30% of all his races, increased it to 37% in 1897, and upped it to an astonishing 46% in 1898.
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