After He Turned 17, the ‘Shoe’ Really Fit

The old, splotchy microfilm rolls by the screen to April 20, 1949. There it is, atop Page 4 of the sports section, under the headline: “Race Results at Golden Gate.”

It was a claiming race for 3-year-olds. Purse: $2,000. The winner: Shafter V. The rider, in his first victory as a jockey, was 17-year-old Bill Shoemaker. His horse paid $21.00, $9.60 and $4.60.

In that first win, his name was abbreviated to “Shoem’r.” Later, as his fame grew, it would be reduced further, to “Shoe.”

He was transfixed by radio broadcasts of major horse races. At 16, he dropped out of high school to take a $75-a-month job cleaning stalls at the Suzy Q Ranch in Puente. Then he began turning up at Southland tracks, asking for work at as an exercise boy. In short order, he was a jockey.

He was a fast learner. In 1950, at 19, he won 388 races and tied for the national lead. He was the country’s leading winner and money winner the next year.

He won every Triple Crown race more than once, the Kentucky Derby four times. When he retired in 1990, he had put the record for wins out of sight with 8,833.