Frederick J. "Fred" Taral (August 2, 1867 – February 13, 1925) was an American Hall of Fame jockey.

Jockey career

Taral began his career in racing in the 1880s at small

racetrack A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

s in Oklahoma. In 1883, he rode his first competitive thoroughbred in a race at Washington Park. By 1889 he was among the 24-member jockey colony at the

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. As early as 1838 Bernard de Marigny, Ju ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and competed in his first Kentucky Derby. According to The

Boston Post ''The Boston Post'' was a daily newspaper in New England for over a hundred years before it folded in 1956. The ''Post'' was founded in November 1831 by two prominent Boston businessmen, Charles G. Greene and William Beals. Edwin Grozier bough ...

, he was the highest-earning jockey in the US in 1894, with an estimated combined payout of US$20,000. Reports published at the time suggested he had even completed one season with a broken arm. New York State's passage of the Hart–Agnew anti-betting law in 1908 resulted in racetracks statewide struggling to stay in business. As a result, many stable owners, trainers, and jockeys began leaving to work in Europe. Fred Taral left racing in the United States and riding in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

won the 1908 Königspreis (King's Prize), the most important race in that country. He also rode and trained in Germany where he rode Macdonald to victory in the 1909

Deutsches Derby The Deutsches Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Hamburg-Horn over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is scheduled to ...

. He returned home following the outbreak of World War I. For owner James R. Keene, Taral rode future Hall of Famers

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also c ...

and

Henry of Navarre Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

. He also rode Domino against Henry of Navarre to a

dead heat A dead heat is a rare situation in various racing sports in which the performances of competitors are judged to be so close that no difference between them can be resolved. The result is declared a tie and the competitors are awarded a joint ra ...

in an 1894

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 consi ...

. On different horses, that year Taral won the

New York Handicap Triple The Handicap Triple Crown or New York Handicap Triple are the names used to refer to three American handicap races for older Thoroughbred racehorses run by the New York Racing Association at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The three races are ...

, capturing the Brooklyn Handicap,

Metropolitan Handicap The Metropolitan Handicap, frequently called the "Met Mile", is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is contested on dirt over a distance of one mile (8 fu ...

and the Suburban Handicap. In all, Taral won the Brooklyn Handicap on three occasions and the Metropolitan Handicap twice. He was also a two-time winner of the Travers,

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

and

Withers Stakes The Withers Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three years old horses over the distance of miles on the dirt scheduled annually in February at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. The event currently carries a purse ...

. In the pre-

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Tri ...

era, Fred Taral had back-to-back wins in 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 () o ...

. He first won it in 1894 aboard

Assignee An assignment is a legal term used in the context of the law of contract and of property. In both instances, assignment is the process e whereby a person, the ''assignor'', transfers rights or benefits to another, the ''assignee''.For the assig ...

and in 1895 he won his second Preakness plus the Belmont Stakes with the colt Belmar. In 1899 he won the Kentucky Derby aboard Manuel.

Training career

Following his retirement from riding in 1908, Fred Taral pursued a career as a trainer. Among his clients was the Riviera Stable owned by Victor Vivaudou for whom he trained notable runners Fabian and Miss Star.''New York Times'' – September 16, 1922
/ref> Fred Taral died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

in 1925. He was buried in the Maple Grove Cemetery in

Kew Gardens, New York Kew Gardens is a neighborhood in the central area of the New York City borough of Queens. Kew Gardens is bounded to the north by the Union Turnpike and the Jackie Robinson Parkway (formerly the Interboro Parkway), to the east by the Van Wyck Exp ...

. In 1955 he was part of the inaugural class inducted into the newly created United States Racing Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taral, Fred 1867 births 1925 deaths American jockeys People from Peoria, Illinois American people of French descent United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees