Donald Lawrence Meade (December 12, 1913 – December 22, 1996) was an American National Champion

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

. Called the "Bad Boy" of the sport by

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magazine because of his numerous suspensions and fines, he is widely known to this day as a result of his win on

Brokers Tip Brokers Tip (March 16, 1930 – July 14, 1953), by Black Toney out of the French mare Forteresse, was a Thoroughbred racehorse and the only horse in history whose sole win was in the Kentucky Derby. Kentucky Derby His Derby win went down in hi ...

in the 1933 Kentucky Derby.

Background

Meade began riding ponies as a child and eventually horses at

bush track Bush track is a term used in horse racing to describe unsanctioned, informal horse races run in rural areas of the United States and southern Canada. Quarter horses, ridden by amateur jockeys, are raced on makeshift tracks, often set up in the fiel ...

s and at county Fair races. In the summer of 1929 he rode horses for the mayor of his hometown who contacted a friend, trainer Sam Orr, who agreed to take Meade on as an

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. In July 1930, Meade got his first win aboard Queens Bessie at

Lansdowne Park Lansdowne Park is a urban park, historic sports, exhibition and entertainment facility in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by the City of Ottawa. It is located on Bank Street adjacent to the Rideau Canal in The Glebe neighbourhood of central Otta ...

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the ad ...

The "Fighting Finish"

In what became known as the "Fighting Finish", Don Meade on Brokers Tip and jockey Herb Fisher aboard

Head Play Head Play (April 2, 1930 – December 11, 1954) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1933 Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series of races and as the horse on the losing end of the "Fighting F ...

battled their way to the finish line of the 1933 Kentucky Derby. Head Play was leading when Meade sent Brokers Tip through an opening on the inside to pull even. As the horses ran side by side down the stretch, their jockeys grabbed and whipped each other. The racing stewards declared Brokers Tip the winner by a nose. A photo of the Fighting Finish taken by a photographer for the ''

Louisville Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is the highest circulation newspape ...

'' is one of the most widely recognized in Throughbred racing. Meade died on December 22, 1996, in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...

at age 83.

References

1913 births 1996 deaths American jockeys American Champion jockeys People from Aurora County, South Dakota {{US-horseracing-bio-stub