Bill Hartack Dies At 74
Jockey Rode Iron Liege, Majestic Prince, Canada's Northern Dancer
In nine Kentucky Derbies, Hartack won five times, including with Iron Liege, Majestic Prince and Canada's Northern Dancer. He died last month at age 74.
Five times Bill Hartack crossed the Kentucky Derby finish line as a winner. His ride ended last month. He was 74.
It took Hartack just nine Derby rides to post five victories. Eddie Arcaro, the only other jockey to win five Derbies, had 21 Derby starts.
Five Derby Wins
In 1957, Hartack saddled his first Derby victory with Iron Liege when Gallant Man's rider, Wilie Shoemaker, misjudged the finish line and allowed Hartack and Iron Liege to pass them.
Hartack regularly rode one of Canada's best Thoroughbreds and greatest lifetime sires, Northern Dancer. The Dancer won the Derby with Hartack aboard in 1964. They held off Hill Rise and Willie Shoemaker by a short neck.
Hartack's last Derby win came in 1969 with Majestic Prince. The jockey made the great rider, Johnny Longden, the only man in history to both ride a Derby winner (Count Fleet, 1943) and train one (Majestic Prince).
Hartack glided to triumph in 1960 aboard Venetian Way. In three of four previous hookups with Bally Ache, Venetian Way had lost, but he handily dispatched his foe this day by 1-3/4 lengths. Hartack and Venetian Way zipped across the "off" track in the fastest ever recorded time for the conditions, 2:02-3/5. Shoemaker and Tompion finished fourth.
Decidedly brought Hartack Derby victory number three in 1962. Shoemaker ended fifth with Sunrise Country. Hartack's gray, Decidedly, had been bred by the only previous gray Kentucky Derby winner, Determine (1954). Hartack got Decidedly to hit the wire first after rallying through fierce competition from Lee Town, Sunrise Country, then Admiral's Voyage, and, finally, Roman Line.
Post-Riding Days
In Hartack's post-riding years, he served as a steward at Louisiana Downs. He was Woodbine track's special guest earlier this season for the Northern Dancer Breeders' Cup Turf. On the wonder horse Northern Dancer, Hartack won the Bluegrass Stakes, Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and the (Canadian) Queen's Plate.
Interestingly, Hartack said of having been a jockey that he liked his job, but never enjoyed it: that might help explain his considerable reputation as hot-tempered and surly. He loved the outdoors, the challenge, and the competition.
Indeed, he died in November during a Texas hunting trip. Regardless of his professional temperament, Hartack's death brought reminiscent praise for his riding career. Prolific winning trainer D. Wayne Lukas called Hartack a competitive and take-no-prisoners spirit.
The youngest jockey ever to be elected to racing's Hall of Fame, Hartack was inducted in 1959 at the age of 26. In 1956 and in 1957 he topped the rider list in season earnings. In 1957 he became the first jockey to pass the earnings mark of $3 million. From 1953 to 1974, he won 4,272 races.
Hartack began his career at age 19 at Waterford Park, West Virginia, now Mountaineer Race Track.
