Douglas Allan Dodson (December 21, 1921 - February, 1982) was a
Champion
A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...
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 ...
in American
Thoroughbred horse racing
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in t ...
.
Early life
Douglas Dodson was born in
Pickardville,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Canada, the son of James Floyd and Emma Dodson. His family moved to a ranch in
Elk River, Idaho when he was still a child and as a small boy he learned to ride horses and rope
steer Steer, Steers or Steering may refer to:
Animals
* Steer or bullock, castrated male cattle
* Ox, a steer used as a draft animal
People
* Steer (surname)
* Steers (surname)
Places
* Steer Creek (West Virginia), a tributary of the Little K ...
s. His parents moved to
Burns, Oregon
Burns is a city in and the county seat of Harney County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. According to the 2010 census, the population was 2,806. Burns and the nearby city of Hines are home to about 60 percent of the people in the sparsely pop ...
where at age fifteen he was working as a
shoeshine boy when
trainer Harry Walters told the diminutive boy shining his shoes about racing Thoroughbreds
Deciding that he wanted to try his luck as a jockey, Dodson soon traveled to the
Longacres (racetrack), Longacres Racetrack in
Renton, Washington
Renton is a city in King County, Washington, and an inner-ring suburb of Seattle. Situated southeast of downtown Seattle, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington, at the mouth of the Cedar River. As of the 2020 census, the ...
. There he was hired by trainer Walter Neilsen and, while still an apprentice jockey in 1939, won the
Pacific Northwest's most prestigious race, the
Longacres Mile
The Longacres Mile Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race generally held in August at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Washington. The race is open to horses three years of age and older and is run on dirt over a distance of one mile (eight furlon ...
. At age seventeen, he was the youngest jockey to ever win the Longacres Mile.
Riding career
In 1940, the then nineteen-year-old Dodson was signed by
Warren Wright, Sr.
Warren Wright Sr. (September 25, 1875 Springfield, Ohio – December 28, 1950 Miami Beach, Florida), was the owner of one of America's most successful Thoroughbred horse racing operations.
Wright was born in Ohio and raised in Chicago. In 1914, ...
to join
Eddie Arcaro
George Edward Arcaro (February 19, 1916 – November 14, 1997), was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame jockey who won more American classic races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Tripl ...
as a rider for his
Calumet Farm
Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegras ...
stable of
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...
. In September of the previous year, Wright had hired
Ben Jones as head trainer. The result saw Calumet Farm record the most successful decade of any racing stable in the history of American Thoroughbred racing. Between 1945 and 1961, Douglas Dodson made twelve appearances in the
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
without winning. His best result came with his first ride in 1945 aboard
Pot O'Luck
Pot O'Luck (1942) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred and raced by the renowned Calumet Farm of Lexington, Kentucky. He was sired by Chance Play, the 1927 retrospective American Horse of the Year and 1935 Leading sire in North America. O ...
when he ran second. Later that year he rode Pot O' Luck to victory in the
Jockey Club Gold Cup
The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It has traditionally been the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the sp ...
. Dodson finished third in the Derby on three other occasions. He had much better luck in the second leg of the
U.S. Triple Crown, the
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also 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 ...
. After finishing second by a neck in 1946 aboard
Maine Chance Farm's Lord Boswell, he won the race in 1947 aboard
Faultless
Faultless (foaled 1944 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1947 Preakness Stakes.
Background
He was bred and raced by Calumet Farm. His dam, Unerring, was the 1939 American Co-Champion Three-Year-Old ...
defeating, among others
Phalanx
The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly use ...
, later to be voted outstanding three-year-old male horse that year.
[''The Bloodhorse.com'' Champion's history charts]
The following year he earned another second-place result with
Vulcan's Forge. Dodson made his fourth and last Preakness start in 1956, earning third place aboard No Regrets. His association with Calumet came to a bitter end in 1948 when Dodson quit the racing stable after being denied a mount on
Citation
A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of ...
, soon to win the Triple Crown, in favor of the colt's regular rider, fellow Canadian
Albert Snider
Albert Snider (October 22, 1921March 5, 1948) was a jockey in Thoroughbred racing who had success in his native Canada as well as the United States. He was born in Calgary, Alberta, and got his first win on September 1, 1938, at Stamford Park ra ...
.
Achievements
Among Douglas Dodson's other accomplishments in racing, he was the Leading jockey at
Arlington Park
Arlington International Racecourse (formerly Arlington Park, the name was Arlington Park Jockey Club from as soon as 1948 up to 1955) was a horse race track in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois. Horse racing in the Chicago regi ...
in 1945 and 1946. In 1949, he made a return visit to his native Canada to ride the future
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame
The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 to honour those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and Thoroughbred horse racing in Canada. It is located at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.
The H ...
colt
Arise to a win in the
Canadian Championship Stakes. In 1951 Dodson became the first jockey to win three editions of the then richest race in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, the
Widener Handicap
The Widener Handicap at Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida was a Grade III stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses 3-years-old and up. It was run over a distance of miles (10 furlongs) until 1993 when it was modified to miles. Initially ...
at
Hialeah Park
The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida, Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenu ...
. Dodson had his greatest success in 1946 and 1947 with the Calumet colt,
Armed
Armed (May, 1941–1964) was an American Thoroughbred gelding race horse who was the American Horse of the Year in 1947 and Champion Older Male Horse in both 1946 and 1947. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in ...
. Voted the
U.S. Champion Older Male Horse both years, on September 27, 1947, Armed and Dodson defeated
U.S. Triple Crown champion
Assault
An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...
in a $100,000 winner take all
match race
A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.
In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consis ...
at
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905.
It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...
.
That year, Armed received the highest honor in horse racing when he was voted
Horse of the Year[ and in 1963 would be inducted in the ]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. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...
. For Dodson, he won a National riding title in 1947 when he led all American jockeys in total purses won.
Retirement
Dodson retired from riding at the beginning of the 1960s but remained in the horse racing industry as a trainer. In 1965 he was the top trainer at Hialeah Park Race Track
The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenue, and from East 2 ...
in Hialeah, Florida
Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 census, Hialeah is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in the Miami metropolitan area
...
.
Douglas Dodson was living 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 the time of his death in 1982.
References
Kentucky Derby charts for Douglas Dodson
Hickok Sports - Annual Leaders - Horse Racing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodson, Douglas
1921 births
1982 deaths
American jockeys
American Champion jockeys
American horse trainers
Sportspeople from Alberta
Sportspeople from Idaho
Canadian emigrants to the United States
People from Burns, Oregon
People from Hollywood, Florida