George Joseph Barbee (December 12, 1849 – October 30, 1939) was an English-born jockey who was inducted into 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 ...

in 1996. Published reports indicate Barbee lived to be 89, and is buried near

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 ...

Elmont, New York Elmont is an unincorporated hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City. The population was 35,265 at the ...

. Barbee began his racing career as an apprentice to

Tom Jennings, Sr. Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

, for whom he exercised the 1865

English Triple Crown The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, often shortened to Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for Thoroughbreds, often restricted to three-year-olds. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplis ...

winner

Gladiateur Gladiateur (1862–1876) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse who won the English Triple Crown in 1865. Gladiateur is called a legend by France Galop and "One of the best horses ever to grace the turf in any century" by the National Sporting Li ...

. Barbee moved to the United States in 1872 specifically to ride for John Chamberlain. He began his stateside career riding at

Monmouth Park Racetrack Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with ...

Racing career

In 1873 Barbee won the inaugural

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 ...

aboard Survivor who won by 10 lengths, a record until

Smarty Jones Smarty Jones (February 28, 2001) is a champion Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and came second in the Belmont Stakes. Background Born at Fairthorne Farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania, the horse was ...

11½ length victory in 2004. He later won two other Preakness Stakes aboard

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

(1876) and Jacobus (1883). His record three Preakness victories was not surpassed until

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 ...

won his fourth in 1951. In addition to the Preakness victories, Barbee won the 1874

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

aboard

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

, and the 1874 and 1875

Travers Stakes The Travers Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Mid-Summer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds according to internation ...

aboard Attila and D'Artagnan, respectively.

Tom Ochiltree Tom Ochiltree (1872–1897), was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1875 Preakness Stakes and several other major stakes. In 1877, he lost in one of the most famous match races of the nineteenth century – a race that had been so ...

was one of Barbee's most important mounts. He took the colt to victory in the Saratoga, Monmouth, Centennial, Westchester and Baltimore Cups. Other significant horses ridden by Barbee include

Springbok The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm v ...

, Duke of Magenta, Eole, and

Uncas Uncas () was a ''sachem'' of the Mohegans who made the Mohegans the leading regional Indian tribe in lower Connecticut, through his alliance with the New England colonists against other Indian tribes. Early life and family Uncas was born n ...

Legacy

George Barbee was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1996, chosen by the Hall of Fame's Historical Review Committee.

Riding career at a glance

*Years Active: 1872–1884, in this country *Number of Mounts: Approximately 500 *Number of Winners: 136 *Winning Percentage: 27 *Stakes Victories: 65

References

*“Hall of Fame push on for rider of 1st Preakness winner,” Kent Baker, The Baltimore Sun, May 18, 1995, Pg. 10C. *“Hall of Fame to Induct First Preakness-winning Jockey,” The Sports Network, May 17, 1996. *“Way Back When,” Frederick N. Rasmussen, The Baltimore Sun, May 17, 2003, p. 2E. {{DEFAULTSORT:Barbee, George 1850 births 1939 deaths American jockeys United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Norfolk English emigrants to the United States