Eric Guerin
Encyclopedia
Oliver Eric Guerin is an American
Hall of Fame jockey
.
Eric Guerin was born in Maringouin
, Louisiana
, in Cajun
backwater country, twenty-four miles west of Baton Rouge
. The son of an impoverished Cajun blacksmith
, older cousin Norman Leblanc had become a jockey then a horse trainer
and in 1938 the fourteen-year-old Guerin quit school to go to work for his cousin at the Fair Grounds Race Course
in New Orleans. For two years, the teenager cleaned out horse stalls and began learning to ride by exercising horses. He then signed a contract to work for a Texas
businessman's stable, a job that afforded him the opportunity to travel to racetracks around the country. Before long, his contract was sold to another stable
owner, a common practise at the time, and Guerin began his career as a thoroughbred horse racing jockey in 1941 at the age of sixteen at Narragansett Park near Pawtucket, Rhode Island
. Riding for a top stable proved to be Guerin's big break as a year later he was the United States' leading apprentice jockey. Within a few years, Eric Guerin was a highly regarded jockey on the East Coast
racing circuit and in 1944 was involved in a racing rarity when he was part of a triple
dead heat
for first place in the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack
.
Known for his cool head and steady hand, Eric Guerin was hired by cosmetics magnate Elizabeth Arden
to ride for her Maine Chance Farm
. Teamed up with future Hall of Fame trainer
Tom Smith, he rode Jet Pilot
to victory in the 1947 Kentucky Derby
. His reputation soon led to a lucrative contract offer from Alfred G. Vanderbilt II
to join his Sagamore Stable
. There, working with another future Hall of Fame trainer, Bill Winfrey
, Guerin was soon scoring numerous important victories, notably with Champion
fillies
Bed o'Roses
and Next Move
.
In 1952, thoroughbred racing gained a multitude of new fans when the Kentucky Derby
was broadcast on television for the first time. That year, Guerin rode Native Dancer
through an undefeated season with the colt earning the Eclipse Award
as Champion 2-year-oldand was voted Horse of the Year and American Champion in two of the three major polls. Much publicity surrounded the Sagamore team as the 1953 racing season got under way. For the final prep race leading up to the Kentucky Derby, enthusiastic American horse-racing fans for the first time were able to watch the live telecast of the Grade 1
Wood Memorial Stakes
. Through the new type of personalized racing coverage that began introducing jockeys to a nationwide audience, NBC
broadcaster Win Elliott interviewed Eric Guerin after he rode the still undefeated Native Dancer to another impressive victory.
Guerin and Native Dancer appeared invincible as they headed to Churchill Downs
for the first of the U.S. Triple Crown
races. Shocked fans, both in the stands and on television, watched as the great colt finished second after being bumped by another horse early in the race. Native Dancer never lost another race and went on to capture the next two legs of the Triple Crown series, the Preakness
and Belmont Stakes
. The following year Guerin rode Native Dancer to the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
honors, and for himself, made it back-to-back Belmont wins by riding High Gun
to victory in the 1954 classic.
In 1972, Guerin was still riding when he was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
. Three years later at age fifty-one after a thirty-four-year career that produced 2,712 winners he retired. After moving to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
in 1989, Guerin worked as a mutuels clerk at Calder Race Course
and Gulfstream Park
.
Eric Guerin developed a blood disorder and died of heart complications in 1993 at the age of sixty-eight. His ashes were spread amongst the flower beds in the winner's circle at Gulfstream Park.
Guerin's contemporary, Eddie Arcaro, asserted: "There was no better rider than Eric."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Hall of Fame 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:...
.
Eric Guerin was born in Maringouin
Maringouin, Louisiana
Maringouin is a town in Iberville Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,262 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Maringouin is located at ....
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, in Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
backwater country, twenty-four miles west of Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
. The son of an impoverished Cajun blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
, older cousin Norman Leblanc had become a jockey then a horse trainer
Horse trainer
In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...
and in 1938 the fourteen-year-old Guerin quit school to go to work for his cousin at the Fair Grounds Race Course
Fair Grounds Race Course
Fair Grounds Race Course, often known as New Orleans Fair Grounds, is a thoroughbred racetrack and racino in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is operated by Churchill Downs Louisiana Horseracing Company, LLC....
in New Orleans. For two years, the teenager cleaned out horse stalls and began learning to ride by exercising horses. He then signed a contract to work for a Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
businessman's stable, a job that afforded him the opportunity to travel to racetracks around the country. Before long, his contract was sold to another stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
owner, a common practise at the time, and Guerin began his career as a thoroughbred horse racing jockey in 1941 at the age of sixteen at Narragansett Park near Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 71,148 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth largest city in the state.-History:...
. Riding for a top stable proved to be Guerin's big break as a year later he was the United States' leading apprentice jockey. Within a few years, Eric Guerin was a highly regarded jockey on the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
racing circuit and in 1944 was involved in a racing rarity when he was part of a triple
Triple
Triple, a doublet of "treble" or "threefold" , is used in several contexts:* Triple metre, a musical metre characterized by a primary division of three beats to the bar...
dead heat
Tie (draw)
To tie or draw is to finish a competition with identical or inconclusive results. The word "tie" is usually used in North America for sports such as American football. "Draw" is usually used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations and it is usually used for sports such as...
for first place in the Carter Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack
Aqueduct Racetrack
Aqueduct Racetrack is a thoroughbred horse-racing facility and racino in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Its racing meets usually are from late October/early November through April.-History:...
.
Known for his cool head and steady hand, Eric Guerin was hired by cosmetics magnate Elizabeth Arden
Elizabeth Arden
Florence Nightingale Graham , who went by the business name Elizabeth Arden, was a Canadian-American businesswoman who built a cosmetics empire in the United States. At the peak of her career, she was one of the wealthiest women in the world.-Biography:Arden was born in 1884 at Woodbridge, Ontario,...
to ride for her Maine Chance Farm
Maine Chance Farm
Maine Chance Farm was an American Thoroughbred horse racing stable in Lexington, Kentucky owned by cosmetics tycoon, Elizabeth Arden.Elizabeth Arden raced under the nom de course "Mr. Nightingale" until 1943 when she adopted the name Maine Chance Farm from her health spa in Mount Vernon, Maine...
. Teamed up with future Hall of Fame trainer
Horse trainer
In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...
Tom Smith, he rode Jet Pilot
Jet Pilot
Jet Pilot was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Purchased for US$41,000 at the Keeneland Yearling Sale by cosmetics queen Elizabeth Arden, he raced under her Maine Chance Farm colors. He was sired by the English champion and 1930 Epsom Derby winner, Blenheim II, and out of the mare Black Wave by...
to victory in the 1947 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...
. His reputation soon led to a lucrative contract offer from Alfred G. Vanderbilt II
Alfred G. Vanderbilt II
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt II was a member of the prominent Vanderbilt family, a son of the first Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt who died a hero in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. His mother, Margaret Emerson, was one of America's wealthiest women and most sought-after hostesses, operating at least...
to join his Sagamore Stable
Sagamore Farm
Sagamore Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding farm on Belmont Avenue in Reisterstown, Baltimore County, Maryland. Established in 1925, it was owned by Margaret Emerson Vanderbilt who gave it to her son Alfred G. Vanderbilt II for his twenty-first birthday...
. There, working with another future Hall of Fame trainer, Bill Winfrey
William C. Winfrey
William C. "Bill" Winfrey was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Bill Winfrey was born Colin Dickard but after the passing of his father was adopted by Hall of Fame trainer, G. Carey Winfrey...
, Guerin was soon scoring numerous important victories, notably with Champion
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
fillies
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
Bed o'Roses
Bed o'Roses
Bed o' Roses was an American thoroughbred racehorse.Bed o' Roses was a bay filly by Rosemont out of the mare Good Thing, by Discovery, owned and bred by Alfred G. Vanderbilt II's Sagamore Farm. Trained by Bill Winfrey and ridden by Eric Guerin, she won the 1949 Grade 1 Matron Stakes for...
and Next Move
Next Move
Next Move was an American Thoroughbred Champion filly racehorse. Bred and raced by prominent horseman Alfred G. Vanderbilt II, she was sired by Calumet Farm's prepotent sire Bull Lea...
.
In 1952, thoroughbred racing gained a multitude of new fans when 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...
was broadcast on television for the first time. That year, Guerin rode Native Dancer
Native Dancer
Native Dancer , nicknamed the Grey Ghost, was one of the most celebrated and accomplished Thoroughbred racehorses in history, the first horse made famous through the medium of television. He was one of the best horses produced in USA after the war...
through an undefeated season with the colt earning the Eclipse Award
Eclipse Award
The Eclipse Award is an American thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. The Eclipse Awards, honoring the champions of the sport, are sponsored by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association , Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers...
as Champion 2-year-oldand was voted Horse of the Year and American Champion in two of the three major polls. Much publicity surrounded the Sagamore team as the 1953 racing season got under way. For the final prep race leading up to the Kentucky Derby, enthusiastic American horse-racing fans for the first time were able to watch the live telecast of the Grade 1
Conditions races
Conditions races are horse races where the weights carried by the runners are laid down by the conditions attached to the race. Weights are allocated according to; the sex of the runners, with female runners carrying less weight than males; the age of the runners, with younger horses receiving...
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....
. Through the new type of personalized racing coverage that began introducing jockeys to a nationwide audience, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
broadcaster Win Elliott interviewed Eric Guerin after he rode the still undefeated Native Dancer to another impressive victory.
Guerin and Native Dancer appeared invincible as they headed to Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs, located in Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, is a Thoroughbred racetrack most famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby annually. It officially opened in 1875, and held the first Kentucky Derby and the first Kentucky Oaks in the same year. Churchill Downs...
for the first of the U.S. Triple Crown
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
races. Shocked fans, both in the stands and on television, watched as the great colt finished second after being bumped by another horse early in the race. Native Dancer never lost another race and went on to capture the next two legs of the Triple Crown series, 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 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...
. The following year Guerin rode Native Dancer to the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....
honors, and for himself, made it back-to-back Belmont wins by riding High Gun
High Gun
High Gun was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. His sire, Heliopolis, was a two-time Leading sire in North America. His dam was Rocket Gun whose damsire was the legendary Man o' War....
to victory in the 1954 classic.
In 1972, Guerin was still riding when he was elected to 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...
. Three years later at age fifty-one after a thirty-four-year career that produced 2,712 winners he retired. After moving to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
in 1989, Guerin worked as a mutuels clerk at Calder Race Course
Calder Race Course
Calder Casino & Race Course is a casino and horse racetrack in Miami Gardens, Florida in the United States.-History:In the mid-1960s, real estate developer Stephen A. Calder envisioned summertime racing in Florida; in 1965, on the advice of Mr. Calder, the Florida Legislature approved a bill...
and 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....
.
Eric Guerin developed a blood disorder and died of heart complications in 1993 at the age of sixty-eight. His ashes were spread amongst the flower beds in the winner's circle at Gulfstream Park.
Guerin's contemporary, Eddie Arcaro, asserted: "There was no better rider than Eric."