Nicholas "Nick" Shuk was an American 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:...

 in thoroughbred horse racing. He began his career in 1948 as a contract rider for Art Rooney

Art Rooney

Arthur Joseph "Art" Rooney, Sr. , often referred to as "The Chief", was the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers American football franchise in the National Football League.-Family history:...

, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

 football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 team. In the 1950s, Shuk won the Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 jockey title seven times and was the leading jockey at Delaware Park Racetrack three times. He handled such stars as Art Rooney's Little Harp, Brazen Brat, Cida, Tuscany, and Singing Beauty. Shuk rode Laffango, one of the top two year olds of 1952.

Shuk rode in the 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...

, 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...

 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 his best finish coming in the 1955 Preakness with Montpelier Stable's colt

Colt (horse)

A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....

 Saratoga who finished second to Nashua

Nashua (horse)

Nashua was an American-born thoroughbred racehorse, perhaps best remembered for a 1955 match race against the horse that had defeated him in the Kentucky Derby.Nashua's sire was the good, but temperamental, European champion Nasrullah...

. He won the Monmouth Oaks in 1953 with Grecian Queen

Grecian Queen

Grecian Queen was an American Champion Thoroughbred filly racehorse. She was bred by Dallas, Texas businessman Ben Whitaker and raced under his wife's name. A consistently good and durable runner at age two and three, she won at distances from five and one half furlongs to a mile and three...

 who was later chosen American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly.

Nick Shuk served as a mentor to riders such as Stewart Elliott

Stewart Elliott

Stewart Elliott is an American thoroughbred jockey.Elliott grew up in horse racing; his father was a jockey for many years, his mother rode show horses and was a riding instructor, and his uncle owns a racing stable in Canada...

 who rode Smarty Jones

Smarty Jones

Smarty Jones is a thoroughbred race horse, and winner of the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. He finished second in the Belmont Stakes that took place on June 5th, 2004....

 to victory in the Kentucky Derby. He was considered by jockeys such as 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...

 to be one of the finest gate riders.

Well into his fifties, Nick Shuk remained in remarkable condition despite numerous spills and traumas on the track. At age 50, he rode 510 races and scored 47 victories. In 1983, he succumbed to cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

 after winning 2,668 races in his career. He was living 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...

at the time of his passing in 1983.

In 2001, John M. Toothman published his biography title The Reinsman: The Nick Shuk Story. (ISBN 978-1588984340)