Earl "Sandy" Graham (1911 – September 22, 1927) was an American jockey in

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

horse racing who died as a result of a racing accident. Born in Los Angeles, California, Graham rode in pre-1940 when jockeys had no

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

representation and at a time when they were the contracted legal property of a racing stable owner who bore no responsibility for their job safety. Riding horses at their fastest speed possible was dangerous work and technology at the time meant a jockey's only protection from a

head injury A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inju ...

in a racing accident was a

cardboard Cardboard is a generic term for heavy paper-based products. The construction can range from a thick paper known as paperboard to corrugated fiberboard which is made of multiple plies of material. Natural cardboards can range from grey to light ...

skullcap Skullcap or skull cap usually refers to various types of headgear. Specifically it may refer to: Headwear * Beanie (seamed cap) * Biretta, forming part of some clerical, academic or legal dress * Calotte (Belgium), a skullcap worn by students at ...

without a chin strap to secure it in place. In the autumn of 1927, Graham was competing at the

Polo Park Racetrack The Polo Park Racetrack was a Canadian horse racing facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Considered one of the finest racetracks in Western Canada, it was built by Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee R. James Speers. The six-furlong track o ...

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Canada. On September 1, he was running ahead of the field aboard a colt named Vesper Lad when the horse stumbled and threw him to the ground. Trampled by other oncoming horses, Graham's back was broken and his chest was crushed. With no

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

service available, he lay on the track until several jockeys carried him to the

tack TACK is a group of archaea acronym for Thaumarchaeota (now Nitrososphaerota), Aigarchaeota, Crenarchaeota (now Thermoproteota), and Korarchaeota, the first groups discovered. They are found in different environments ranging from acidophilic th ...

room. Stablemate and close friend Tommy Luther pleaded with racetrack officials to take Graham to a hospital but to no avail. His fellow jockeys could not help, as they were under contract to race and were afraid of the consequences if they left the track to get him medical attention. According to a February 24, 2001 '' Thoroughbred Times'' recount of the event, Luther begged officials to take the stricken boy to a hospital, but no one would. The riders could not do it themselves, as each was obligated to ride in upcoming races, and to leave the jockey's room would probably have cost them their livelihoods. Desperate to do something to aide his injured friend, Tommy Luther took up a collection to pay for a

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

. However, at a time when most jockeys did not receive a share of the race purse, they did not have enough money among them to pay the cab fare. All afternoon Luther stayed with his suffering friend, unable to do anything more than drip water into his parched mouth. At the end of the day's racecard, someone finally offered to drive Graham to the hospital but by then it made little difference and he died ten days later. The sixteen-year-old Graham had no

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s and there was no life insurance provided by either his employer or the race track. His impoverished family could not afford to have his remains returned home to Los Angeles, and as such he was buried in an unmarked pauper's

grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grav ...

in the Brookside Cemetery in Winnipeg. Graham's story was told by author

Laura Hillenbrand Laura Hillenbrand (born May 15, 1967) is an American author of books and magazine articles. Her two bestselling nonfiction books, ''Seabiscuit: An American Legend'' (2001) and ''Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redempt ...

in her 2001 number one

bestselling A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

book, '' Seabiscuit: An American Legend'' (pp. 69–70). The publicity Graham's death received as a consequence of the book's popularity, and the ensuing success of the 2003 film ''Seabiscuit'' resulted in a new headstone being erected at his grave. The bottom of the stone reads: "Remembered By His Fellow Jockeys".

Slaid Cleaves Slaid Cleaves is an American singer-songwriter born in Washington, D.C. and raised in South Berwick, Maine and Round Pond, Maine, United States. An alumnus of Tufts University, where he majored in English and philosophy, Cleaves lives in Aus ...

also brought to life the story in a song "Quick as Dreams" on his 2004 album ''Wishbone''.

References

Sources *

Jockeys' Guild The Jockeys' Guild Inc. is an American trade association based in Lexington, Kentucky, representing thoroughbred horse racing and American quarter horse professional jockeys. The organization filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in ...

''The History of Race Riding and the Jockeys' Guild'' (1999)

Turner Publishing Company Turner Publishing Company is an American independent book publisher based in Nashville, Tennessee. The company is in the top 101 independent publishing companies in the U.S. as compiled bBookmarket.com and has been named four times to ''Publish ...

February 24, 2001 ''Thoroughbred Times'' article titled ''A debt of remembrance''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Earl 1911 births 1927 deaths American jockeys Jockeys who died while racing Sport deaths in Canada Accidental deaths in Manitoba Sportspeople from Los Angeles