Arcaro, "Eddie" (George Edward)
Horse racing
b. Feb. 19, 1916, Cincinnati, OH
d. Nov. 14, 1997
One of only two jockeys to win the Kentucky Derby five times, Arcaro won the Preakness a record six times and is tied with Jimmy McLaughlin for most wins in the Belmont with six. Arcaro left school to become an exercise boy in 1930, when he was fourteen. He began jockeying the following year but didn't get his first victory until January of 1932, at Caliente Park in Mexico.
Arcaro was the leading apprentice jockey at New Orleans in 1933, but missed three months with a fractured skull and punctured lung after a fall at Chicago in June. He began riding for Calumet Farm in 1934 and, during the next several years, he established himself as one of the top jockeys in the country.
In 1938, Arcaro won his first Kentucky Derby aboard Lawring, and he won the triple crown with Whirlaway in 1941. He had a chance to make it three Kentucky Derby victories in five years when Greentree Stables in 1942 let him choose between Shut Out and Devil Diver. He finished sixth on Devil Diver, while Shut Out won the race. Later that year, though, he rode Shut Out to victory in the Belmont.
The top money winner in 1940, Arcaro repeated in 1942, even though he was suspended for the last four months because he tried to ride another jockey into the rail.
He won his third Kentucky Derby aboard Hoop Jr. and his third Belmont aboard Pavot in 1945, then began riding for Calumet Farm again in 1948. He rode Coaltown early in the year but after Citation's jockey, Albert Snider, disappeared during a hunting expedition, Arcaro was given another choice: Coaltown or Citation. He choose Citation and won his second triple crown, the only jockey ever to accomplish that. After Citation beat Coaltown in the Kentucky Derby, Arcaro gave half of his winnings to Snider's widow.
Arcaro set a record with $1,686,230 in winnings that year. He was the leader again with $1,410,160 in 1950, when he won the Preakness on Hill Prince. He won the Preakness once more in 1951 with Bold Ruler and in 1952 he took his fifth Kentucky Derby aboard Hill Gail and his fifth Belmont aboard One-Count, breaking his own record with $1,859,591 in winnings.
After winning the Preakness with Hasty Road in 1955, Arcaro rode Nashua to second behind Swaps in the Kentucky Derby, then won the Preakness and Belmont, neither of which Swaps entered. That set up a $100,000, winner-take-all match race, and Arcaro rode Nashua to an easy victory. He let in winnings for the fifth and final time with $1,864,796 that year.
Arcaro had his last victory in a triple crown race with Fabius, a son of Citation, in the 1956 Preakness. He retired early in 1962 because of bursitis in his right arm. He later served as a television commentator and as a public relations person for the Golden Nugget Casinos.
In 24,092 races, Arcaro had 4,779 wins, 3,807 seconds, and 3,302 third-place finishes, with $30,039,543 in purses. His record of 554 stakes victories was broken by Willie Shoemaker in 1972.