Crompton Smith better known as Tommy Smith (16 October 1937 in Middleberg,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

– 5 March 2013 in Upperco,

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 ...

) was an American

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 ...

. He is best remembered as the first American jockey to win the prestigious Grand National

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

race while riding a horse born and trained in the United States. He accomplished the feat in 1965 with

Jay Trump Jay Trump (1957–1988) was an American thoroughbred racehorse and one of only two horses to win both the Maryland Hunt Cup and the Grand National steeplechase races. Jay Trump won three Maryland Hunt Cups, 1963, 1964, 1966. In 1965 he won the ...

. A few months later, the same horse-jockey combination finished third in another important race: the

Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris The Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris is a Group 1 steeplechase in France which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run at Auteuil over a distance of 6,000 metres, and during its running there are twe ...

. Other notable wins by the pair includes three victories in the Maryland Hunt Cup (1963, 1964 and 1966). In 1965, Smith appeared on the April 26th episode of the CBS game show To Tell the Truth. Despite considerable success, Smith quit jockeying in 1966 and began a career in the health-care industry. After his retirement in 1995, Smith moved to

and started training thoroughbreds. Unfortunately, a riding accident in 2001 left him a quadriplegic. He died in 2013.

References

Bibliography

''The will to win : the true story of Tommy Smith and Jay Trump''. Jane McIlvaine McClary (1966). 1937 births 2013 deaths American jockeys People from Middleburg, Virginia Sportspeople from Loudoun County, Virginia {{US-horseracing-bio-stub