Adams, John
Horse racing
b. Sept. 1, 1915, Iola, KS
Adams, who led the nation's jockeys in winning mounts in 1937, 1942, and 1943, got his first ride at a county fair where his father was delivering feed for the horses and other livestock, but his parents didn't want him to become a jockey. They refused to sign the necessary papers for an apprenticeship, so Adams lied about his age and became a journeyman immediately.
After a slow start, in part because he wasn't given the apprentice's weight allowance, Adams became a leading jockey beginning in the mid-1930s, with 43 percent of his mounts finishing in the top three over a 24-year period ending in 1958, when he retired because of a back injury and became a trainer.
His first winner as a trainer was ridden by his son, John R. Adams.
Adams rode a total of 20,159 mounts, with 3,270 wins, 2,704 second-place finishes, and 2,635 third-place finishes, earning purses of $9,743,109.