Job Dean Jessop (December 4, 1926 - January 30, 2001) was an American National Champion

Thoroughbred 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 i ...

jockey. Born in Logan, Utah, Jessop was eighteen when on August 9, 1944, as an apprentice jockey he won six races in one program at

Ellis Park Racecourse Ellis Park is a thoroughbred racetrack near Henderson, Kentucky, just south of Evansville, Indiana. It is owned and operated by Churchill Downs Incorporated. While the track is located north of the Ohio River that forms the border between Kent ...

Henderson, Kentucky Henderson is a home rule-class city along the Ohio River and is the county seat of Henderson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 28,757 at the 2010 U.S. census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area, locally known as t ...

. In 1945 he won more races than any other jockey in the United States, finishing the year with 290 victories. His accomplishment was most impressive as a result of government wartime restrictions which had limited the racing year to approximately seven and one-half months. Of Jessop's four mounts in the Kentucky Derby, his best result was two third-place finishes. In 1946, he was third on Hampden behind eventual

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 ...

winner, Assault. Guiding the great Hall of Fame mare

Gallorette Gallorette (1942–1959) was a Maryland-bred chestnut thoroughbred filly who became a Hall of Fame race horse. Sired by Challenger II, out of Gallette, Gallorette's damsire was Sir Gallahad III. Breeding Trainer Preston M. Burch bought Gal ...

, he won the

Queens County Handicap The Queens County Handicap is an American Ungraded Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the second week of December at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. Open to horses age three years and older, it is contested on dirt at a distance ...

against male horses in 1947. In 1950, he won the Ashland Stakes and the following year rode Ruhe to victory in the

Blue Grass Stakes The Blue Grass Stakes, currently the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes due to sponsorship by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is a horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky. The race is ru ...

, then finished third with the colt in that year's Derby. Among his other victories, Jessop rode in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, winning the 1961 B.C. Oaks with the filly Be Famous. He was also the regular rider of Triplicate. Jessop retired from riding in 1970 and settled in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

where for a short time he was involved with

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

horses. He died in 2001 in Boerne, in

Kendall County, Texas Kendall County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 44,279. Its county seat is Boerne, Texas, Boerne. The county is named for George Wilkins Kendall ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jessop 1926 births 2001 deaths American jockeys American Champion jockeys Sportspeople from Logan, Utah People from Boerne, Texas