Martin "Marty" Bergen (1869 – October 7, 1906) was an American National Champion jockey in

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 ...

. As a result of his 1888 success in wintertime racing at the Guttenberg and Clifton Race Tracks in New Jersey, for 1889 Bergen was contracted to ride for the prominent stable of

Samuel S. Brown Captain Samuel Smith Brown (December 15, 1842 – December 11, 1905) was an American businessman and a prominent Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder and racetrack owner. Early life A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Samuel Brown was a stu ...

. He would end the year as the United States number two jockey in total wins behind only Shelby Barnes and in 1890 he would win National riding honors. Marty Bergen was the eldest of his brothers Joseph and Michael who were also jockeys. Joseph (Joe) Bergen died on January 6, 1893 as a result of a racing accident at the racecourse in

Gloucester City, New Jersey Gloucester City is a city in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the city's population was 11,456,Salvator Salvator, original spelling of Salvador, may refer to: * Paulaner Salvator, the original doppelbock brand * Salvator (lizard), ''Salvator'' (lizard), a genus of lizards * Salvator (horse) (1886–1909), an American thoroughbred racehorse * Salvato ...

in a "race against the clock" 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 ...

in New Jersey in which he shattered the American record for a mile distance on dirt with a time of 1:35 1/2. Marty Bergen died at age 37 from

Consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

at a sanitarium in New York's

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas cl ...

. He left behind a wife and two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergen, Marty 1869 births 1906 deaths American jockeys American Champion jockeys Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state) People from Onondaga County, New York 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery