Johnny Sellers was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 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:...

. Born in Los Angeles, but raised in Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, he began his professional career in 1955 and between 1959 and 1968 rode in six Kentucky Derby

Kentucky 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...

s. He won the prestigious race aboard Carry Back

Carry Back

Carry Back by Saggy out of Joppy, was an American Hall of Fame thoroughbred racehorse with a less than stellar pedigree but who nonetheless won many important graded stakes races including the 1961 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. His racing colors were blue, silver hoops and sleeves...

 in 1961 then riding the colt to victory in the Preakness Stakes

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...

. That same year, he won eight straight races, equaling an American record set in 1951, and ended the year as the United States Champion Jockey by wins

United States Champion Jockey by wins

There is no formal championship award given to the jockey who won the most races in United States Thoroughbred racing. However, it is a prestigious accomplishment always on any jockey's resumé and widely reported on by the various media.-Milestones:...

. He made the August 28, 1961 cover of Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...

 magazine.

In 1958, Sellers rode Jack Ketch

Jack Ketch (horse)

Jack Ketch was a thoroughbred racehorse. Raced at age two under trainer Stephen Quirke, son of Irish champion jockey, Martin Quirke, Jack Ketch won the Maher Nursery Handicap. At age three, the colt won three important Irish races including the Classic 2,000 Guineas.In 1958, Jack Ketch was sold to...

 to victory in the Canadian International Stakes

Canadian International Stakes

The Canadian International Stakes is a $2 million Grade I Canadian stakes race on Turf for thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and up held annually in October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario....

 and in 1965 he won 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...

 aboard Hail To All

Hail To All

Hail To All was an American thoroughbred stallion racehorse. He was sired by Hail To Reason, out of the mare, Ellen's Best, who was in turn sired by War Relic, son of the great Man o' War....

. In 1969 he 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...

.

Retired in 1997, Sellers lived in Hallandale, Florida, two blocks from Gulfstream Park

Gulfstream Park

Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino is a racetrack and county-approved racino in Hallandale Beach, Florida, in the United States. During its annual meet, which spans December through April, it is one of the most important venues for horse racing in America....

 racetrack. He remained involved in the racing industry as a bloodstock agent. In 1999, he was in the news after recovering his Kentucky Derby trophy. Stolen from his Monrovia, California

Monrovia, California

Monrovia is a city located in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 36,590 at the 2010 census, down from 36,929 at the 2000 census...

 home in 1978, twenty-one years later a friend notified him that the engraved sterling silver trophy was being offered for sale on eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

.

In 2007, Johnny Sellers was elected to the United States' 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...

.

Sellers had two sons, Mark Sellers and John Michael Sellers, both of whom had careers as jockeys.