Eddie Arcaro
Encyclopedia
George Edward Arcaro known professionally as Eddie Arcaro, was an American
Thoroughbred horse racing
Hall of Fame
jockey
who won more American classic races
than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Triple Crown twice. He is widely regarded as the greatest jockey in the history of American Thoroughbred horse racing. Arcaro was born in Cincinnati, Ohio
, the son of an impoverished taxi
driver. Eventually nicknamed "Banana Nose" by his confreres, Arcaro won his first race in 1932 at the Agua Caliente racetrack
in Tijuana, Mexico.
in 1938 aboard Lawrin
. He is tied with Bill Hartack
for most Derby wins with five, and has the most wins in the Preakness
and the Belmont Stakes
with six. He won the U.S. Triple Crown in 1941 on Whirlaway
and again in 1948 on Citation
.
eight times, the Wood Memorial Stakes
nine times and the Jockey Club Gold Cup
ten times. In international competition, at Woodbine Racetrack
in Toronto
Arcaro won the 1953 Queen's Plate
(Canada's
most prestigious race); at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland
, he won the 1954 Washington, D.C. International against the best horses and riders from Europe
. In 1953 Arcaro was voted the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
, and in 1958 he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Active in jockey affairs, Arcaro was a driving force behind the creation of the Jockeys' Guild
. He retired in 1962, due to severe bursitis
in his arm. During his career Arcaro rode in 24,092 races and won 4,779, with record setting earnings of $30,039,543. After working as a television commentator on racing for CBS
and ABC
, he was a public relations officer for the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas
before retiring to Miami, Florida
. He also worked as a spokesman for the Buick
Motor Division of General Motors
, for which he voiced the well-known phrase "If you price a Buick, you'll buy a Buick." For many years, he was the proprietor of a popular Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills.
Eddie Arcaro died in 1997. His body was cremated and his ashes were inurned in the columbarium at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Miami. Today, he remains one of the best-known jockeys in the history of horse racing, called "the Master" for his riding skills, good sense of pace and the ability to switch his whip from one hand to the other with ease during a race.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Thoroughbred horse racing
Thoroughbred horse race
Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...
Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
who won more American classic races
United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
In the United States, the "Triple Crown" is usually the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a series of three Thoroughbred horse races for three-year-old horses run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.While Daily Racing Form...
than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Triple Crown twice. He is widely regarded as the greatest jockey in the history of American Thoroughbred horse racing. Arcaro was born in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, the son of an impoverished taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
driver. Eventually nicknamed "Banana Nose" by his confreres, Arcaro won his first race in 1932 at the Agua Caliente racetrack
Agua Caliente Racetrack
The Agua Caliente Racetrack is a greyhound racing and former horse racing track in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. It opened in December 1929 at a cost of $2.5 million.One year before, the Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel opened in June 1928....
in Tijuana, Mexico.
American classic races
Arcaro won his first Kentucky DerbyKentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
in 1938 aboard Lawrin
Lawrin
Lawrin was an American thoroughbred racehorse owned by Herbert M. Woolf who won the Kentucky Derby in 1938. He was the son of Insco. Lawrin also won the Flamingo Stakes and American Invitational. He is the only Kansas-bred winner of the Kentucky Derby and the first Kentucky Derby winner ridden by...
. He is tied with Bill Hartack
Bill Hartack
William John Hartack Jr. was a Hall of Fame jockey. He was born in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.Referred to by the media as both "Bill" and "Willie" during his racing career, Hartack grew up on his widowed father's farm in the Blacklick...
for most Derby wins with five, and has the most wins in the Preakness
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
and the Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
with six. He won the U.S. Triple Crown in 1941 on Whirlaway
Whirlaway
Whirlaway was an American champion thoroughbred racehorse.The chestnut horse was sired by English Derby winner Blenheim II, out of the broodmare Dustwhirl. Whirlaway was bred at Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky....
and again in 1948 on Citation
Citation (horse)
Citation was the eighth American Triple Crown winner, and one of three major North American Thoroughbreds to win at least 16 consecutive races in major stakes race competition...
.
Major stakes wins
Arcaro also won the Suburban HandicapSuburban Handicap
The Suburban Handicap is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is run at the classic one-and-one-quarter mile distance on dirt for a $400,000 purse....
eight times, the Wood Memorial Stakes
Wood Memorial Stakes
The Wood Memorial Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica, New York. It is currently a Grade I race run over a distance of 9 furlongs on dirt....
nine times and the Jockey Club Gold Cup
Jockey Club Gold Cup
The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the...
ten times. In international competition, at Woodbine Racetrack
Woodbine Racetrack
Woodbine Racetrack is a Canadian racetrack for Thoroughbred horse races located at 555 Rexdale Blvd. in the city of Toronto, Ontario. It is the only horseracing track in North America which stages, or is capable of staging, thoroughbred and standardbred horseracing programs on the same day...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
Arcaro won the 1953 Queen's Plate
Queen's Plate
The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...
(Canada's
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
most prestigious race); at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland
Laurel, Maryland
Laurel is a city in northern Prince George's County, Anne Arundel County, and Howard County, Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Incorporated in 1870, the city maintains a historic district including its Main Street...
, he won the 1954 Washington, D.C. International against the best horses and riders from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. In 1953 Arcaro was voted the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award
The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack.The award was created...
, and in 1958 he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Active in jockey affairs, Arcaro was a driving force behind the creation of the Jockeys' Guild
Jockeys' Guild
The Jockeys' Guild Inc. is an American trade association based in Lexington, Kentucky, representing thoroughbred horse racing and American quarter horse professional jockeys...
. He retired in 1962, due to severe bursitis
Bursitis
Bursitis is the inflammation of one or more bursae of synovial fluid in the body. The bursae rest at the points where internal functionaries, such as muscles and tendons, slide across bone. Healthy bursae create a smooth, almost frictionless functional gliding surface making normal movement painless...
in his arm. During his career Arcaro rode in 24,092 races and won 4,779, with record setting earnings of $30,039,543. After working as a television commentator on racing for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, he was a public relations officer for the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
before retiring to Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
. He also worked as a spokesman for the Buick
Buick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
Motor Division of General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
, for which he voiced the well-known phrase "If you price a Buick, you'll buy a Buick." For many years, he was the proprietor of a popular Italian restaurant in Beverly Hills.
Eddie Arcaro died in 1997. His body was cremated and his ashes were inurned in the columbarium at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Cemetery in Miami. Today, he remains one of the best-known jockeys in the history of horse racing, called "the Master" for his riding skills, good sense of pace and the ability to switch his whip from one hand to the other with ease during a race.
External links
- An oral history with Eddie Arcaro at the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries
- New York Times' About, Inc. article/photographic collection titled Eddie Arcaro Remembered
- TIME magazine May. 17, 1948 Cover Story on Eddie Arcaro
- Eddie Arcaro interviewed by Mike WallaceMike Wallace (journalist)Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
on The Mike Wallace Interview on September 8, 1957