Johnny Sellers (July 31, 1937 – July 3, 2010) was an American National Champion

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 ...

. Born in Los Angeles, but raised in

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, he began his professional career in 1955 and between 1959 and 1968 rode in six

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 ...

s. He won the prestigious race aboard Carry Back in 1961 then riding the colt to victory in the Preakness Stakes. That same year, he won eight straight races, equaling an American record set in 1951, and ended the year as the United States Champion Jockey by wins. He made the August 28, 1961 cover of '' Sports Illustrated'' magazine. In 1958, Sellers rode Jack Ketch to victory in the Canadian International Stakes and in 1965 he won the

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 Hail To All. In 1969 he was voted the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. Retired in 1997, Sellers lived in Hallandale, Florida, two blocks from Gulfstream Park racetrack. He remained involved in the racing industry as a bloodstock agent. In 1999, he was in the news after recovering his Kentucky Derby trophy. Stolen from his Monrovia, California home in 1978, twenty-one years later a friend notified him that the engraved sterling silver trophy was being offered for sale on eBay. In 2007, Johnny Sellers was elected to the United States' Racing Hall of Fame. In 2011, he was inducted into the

Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. Johnny Sellers died on July 3, 2010 at age 72 in

Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington until ...

.Hall of Fame jockey Johnny Sellers dead at 72
He had two sons, Mark Sellers and John Michael Sellers, both of whom had careers as jockeys. He also had a daughter, Sabrina Sellers Machado. After finishing seventh at the Belmont Stakes with Carry Back, he was a Mystery Guest on '' What's My Line'' with Arlene Francis, Joey Bishop,

Dorothy Kilgallen Dorothy Mae Kilgallen (July 3, 1913 – November 8, 1965) was an American columnist, journalist, and television game show panelist. After spending two semesters at the College of New Rochelle, she started her career shortly before her 18th birth ...

, and Bennett Cerf on the panel. Sellers won $10 for stumping Cerf and Francis; Joey Bishop successfully guessed his identity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sellers, Johnny 1937 births 2010 deaths American jockeys American Champion jockeys United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Los Angeles People from Hallandale Beach, Florida Sportspeople from Oklahoma