John Patrick Loftus (October 13, 1895 – March 23, 1976) was an American

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 Hall of Fame jockey.Johnny Loftus at the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
Born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Johnny Loftus was the first jockey to win the

United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing In the United States, the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, commonly known as the Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds, consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. The three ...

. During his career, between 1909 and 1919, he won 580 races out of the 2,449 he competed in, for a very notable 23.7% success rate. In 1916 he won the

Travers Stakes The Travers Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, 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 acco ...

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 ...

on "Spur" then captured the Kentucky Derby aboard George Smith. In 1917 he won the

Kentucky Oaks The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday ...

with the filly Sunbonnet and the next year he rode

War Cloud War Cloud (1915–1923) was a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who was the first horse to compete in all three U.S.Triple Crown races. Background Bred by Jack Barnato Joel, one of Britain's most prominent Thoroughbred owner/breeders, W ...

to victory 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 ...

. As well, Loftus rode

Man o' War Man o' War (March 29, 1917 – November 1, 1947) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is widely regarded as the greatest racehorse of all time. Several sports publications, including ''The Blood-Horse'', ''Sports Illustrated'', ESPN, and t ...

to victory in eight races, and to the only defeat in the horse's career, a second-place finish at the Sanford Memorial Stakes. For trainer H. Guy Bedwell and

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

owner J. K. L. Ross, who owned a

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, in 1919 Johnny Loftus rode Sir Barton to victory in the Kentucky Derby then only four days later won the

. They went on to win the Belmont Stakes becoming the first-ever American Triple Crown winner. Loftus ended up as 1919's top money-winning jockey in the US and retired at the end of the racing season to become a

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...

. In 1938 and 1939, he enjoyed success as the trainer of Pompoon who was voted

American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt The American Champion Two-Year-Old Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when the '' Daily Racing F ...

in 1936. In 1959, he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Johnny Loftus died in Carlsbad, California in 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loftus, Johnny 1895 births 1976 deaths American jockeys American Champion jockeys United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Chicago

Further reading

References