Ruperto Donoso (November 10, 1914 - August 16, 2001) was a

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 ...

in the sport of

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 c ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

best known for riding

Phalanx The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly use ...

to victory in the 1947

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 ...

. He also rode Gilded Knight to a second-place finish in the 1939

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 ...

. A native of

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...

, Donoso rode in Santiago and at the

Hipódromo de Monterrico The Hipódromo de Monterrico is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility opened in 1960 in Lima, Peru. Operated by the Jockey Club del Peru, it has a one and one-eight mile dirt racetrack with a one-mile inside track for turf racing. Major races at H ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

before moving to the United States and riding under contract to Alfred G. Vanderbilt's racing stable. Ruperto Donoso was required to do mandatory service with the

Chilean Army The Chilean Army ( es, Ejército de Chile) is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade. In recent years, and a ...

and as such did not race in 1942 and 1943, returning on July 24, 1944 to compete at New York's

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 ...

. In the 1947 U.S. Triple Crown series, superstar jockey

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 ...

rode Phalanx to a second-place finish in the

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 ...

and to a third in the

. It was then that trainer Syl Veitch decided to replace Arcaro with the C. V. Whitney stable's secondary jockey in the Belmont Stakes. Donoso had ridden Phalanx to two wins in 1946 but as the stable's first string jockey, Arcaro had had first choice on all mounts

Among his other success, Donoso guided Many Stings to a half-length victory over

Big Pebble {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Big Pebble , image = , caption = , sire = Black Servant , grandsire = Black Toney , dam = Beach Talk , damsire = Sundridge , sex = Stallion , foaled = 1936 , country = United States , colour = Bay ...

and fourteen other runners in the Widener Challenge Cup at

Hialeah Park The Hialeah Park Race Track (also known as the Hialeah Race Track or Hialeah Park) is a historic racetrack in Hialeah, Florida, Hialeah, Florida. Its site covers 40 square blocks of central-east side Hialeah from Palm Avenue east to East 4th Avenu ...

. The win brought Leo J. Mark's Le Mar Stock Farm the $52,000 winner's share of the purse.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donoso, Ruperto 1914 births 2001 deaths Chilean emigrants to the United States Chilean jockeys American jockeys Sportspeople from Santiago Chilean Army personnel