Earlie Fires

Earlie Fires
Occupation Jockey
Born March 19, 1947
Rivervale, Arkansas, USA
Career wins 6,470
Major racing wins
Arlington Matron Stakes
(1966, 1967, 1980, 1982, 1992)
Lafayette Stakes (1966)
Dixie Stakes (1967)
Florida Derby (1967, 1989)
Jersey Derby (1967)
Breeders' Futurity Stakes (1968)
Santa Barbara Handicap (1972)
Alcibiades Stakes (1973)
Duchess Stakes (1976)
La Prevoyante Stakes (1976)
Arlington Handicap (1978, 1990)
Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes (1979)
Spinster Stakes (1979)
Lincoln Heritage Handicap
(1980, 1984, 1988 (2x), 1993, 1994, 2003)
Isaac Murphy Handicap
(1981, 1992, 2008)
Washington Park Handicap (1985)
Alabama Stakes (1986)
Ashland Stakes (1986)
Gazelle Stakes (1986)
Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes (1986)
American Derby (1987)
Fairmount Derby aka St. Louis Derby (1988)
Pan American Handicap (1988)
Phoenix Stakes (1988)
Edgewood Stakes (1989)
Davona Dale Stakes (1990)
Broward Handicap (1990)
Donn Handicap (1990)
Forward Gal Stakes (1990)
Sorority Stakes (1990)
Ohio Derby (1992)
E. P. Taylor Stakes (1993)
Hanshin Cup (1993, 1994, 2007)
Sky Classic Stakes (1993)
Nijinsky Stakes (1998)
Pasco Stakes (2002)
Purple Violet Stakes (2007)
Racing awards
George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award (1991)
Honours
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame (2001)
Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame (2007)
Significant horses
In Reality, Tumble Wind, Abe's Hope, War Censor, Foolish Pleasure, Swinging Mood, Pattee Canyon, Sweetest Chant, Classy Cathy, Mercedes Won, Primal, One Dreamer, Buck's Boy

Earlie Stancel Fires (born March 19, 1947 in Rivervale, Arkansas) is a retired National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame jockey.

Fires began riding professionally in 1964 and led all American apprentices in wins that year with 224. He retired on September 21, 2008 having won 6,470 races at racetracks across North America. In 1983, and again 1987, Fires set a record for Arlington Park by winning seven races in a single day of racing.[1] He is Arlington Park's all-time leading rider with 2,886 wins and holds the record for most wins in that track's Lincoln Heritage Handicap with seven. He also has the distinction of riding in the Kentucky Derby after a 24 year hiatus, the longest gap for a jockey. At 51 he rode in the 100th Kentucky Derby and returned to Churchill Downs in the 124th Kentucky Derby in 1998.

In 1991, Fires was voted the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, given to a jockey who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack. He was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2001 and following its creation, the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.[2][3]

Earlie Fires' brother is trainer William H. Fires.

References

  1. ↑ Milbert, Neil (May 26, 1987). "Fires Goes 7-For-9 in Arlington Blitz". Chicago Tribune.
  2. ↑ Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame
  3. ↑ "Racing Hall of Fame jockey Earlie Fires retires"
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