Wantha Davis (January 3, 1917 – September 18, 2012) was an American female
jockey in
thoroughbred horse 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 in ...
.
Born Wantha Lorena Bangs near
Liberal, Kansas
Liberal is the county seat of Seward County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 19,825. Liberal is home of Seward County Community College.
History
Early settler S. S. Rogers built the first hous ...
, she married horse breeder Lendol Davis. After graduating from high school, Bangs rode a freight train to
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
, where she found work in the stables at a thoroughbred racetrack. A year later she was back in Kansas, where she began her career as a jockey. Competing in a male-dominated sport, over the next twenty-plus years Davis won more than one thousand races at a time when women were refused licensing.
Her success was such that many major
sports writer
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...
s considered her to be among the top jockeys in the United States. In 1949, she defeated the great
Johnny Longden
John Eric "Johnny" Longden (February 14, 1907 – February 14, 2003) was an American Hall of Fame and National Champion jockey and a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses who was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England. His father emigrated to Can ...
in an exhibition match race at
Agua Caliente Racetrack
Agua means water in Spanish.
Agua may also refer to:
Places
* ''Agua de Dios'' (God's water), a municipality in Colombia
* Volcán de Agua, a stratovolcano located in Guatemala
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Agua'' (film), a 2006 Argentin ...
in
Tijuana
Tijuana ( ,["Tijuana"](_blank)
(US) and [< ...]
, Mexico, prompting Longden to immediately demand a rematch. A few months later, on April 30, 1950, Davis followed up with a similar match race victory over another future
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame jockey,
Jack Westrope
Jack Gordon Westrope (January 18, 1918 – June 19, 1958) was an American Hall of Fame jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.
Born in Baker, Montana, Westrope was the son of racehorse owner/trainer W. T. Westrope. Jack was only 12 years old when he ...
.
In 2004, Davis was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the
National Cowgirl Museum in
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...
.
She died peacefully on September 18, 2012, surrounded by her family.
References
External links
Wantha Davis websiteWantha Davis at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
1917 births
2012 deaths
People from Liberal, Kansas
American female jockeys
Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductees
American jockeys
21st-century American women
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