Mary Russ | |
---|---|
Occupation | Jockey |
Born | c. 1953 Tampa, Florida |
Career wins | 520 |
Major racing wins | |
Sunny Isle Handicap (1982) New York City Big Apple OTB Handicap (1982) Albany Stakes (1982) Gulfstream Park Handicap (1982) Widener Handicap (1982) Criterium Stakes (1983) Appleton Handicap (1985) Phoenix Stakes (1985) Brave Raj Stakes (1993) Calder Derby (1993) Carry Back Stakes (1993) Dr. Fager Stakes (1993) Fast Hilarious Handicap (1993) Memorial Day Handicap (1993) | |
Racing awards | |
Tropical Park Champion Jockey (1982, 1992) | |
Honors | |
Calder Race Course Hall of Fame (2003) | |
Significant horses | |
Lord Darnley, Majestic Kat, Smart and Sharp |
Mary L. Russ (born c. 1953 in Tampa, Florida) is a retired jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing who was the first female rider in North America to win a Grade 1 race, the first to earn more than $1 million in purses in a season, and the first to win a major race meet. She was inducted into the Calder Race Course Hall of Fame in 2003. [1] While still an apprentice, on February 28, 1982, Mary Russ became the first female jockey to win a Grade 1 race when she captured the 1982 edition of the Widener Handicap aboard Lord Darnley, trained by Roger Laurin, at Hialeah Park in Florida. That same year, aboard Majestic Cat, she won the 1982 New York City Big Apple OTB Handicap and the Albany Stakes, two of the three races that would comprise the Big Apple Triple. [2]
She is married to Rick Tortora, son of trainer Manny Tortora. [3]
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 who rode horses in racing. They must be light, typically around a weight of 100–120 lb., and physically fit. They are typically self-employed, and are paid a small fee from the horse trainer and a percentage of the horse's winnings. The job has a very high risk of debilitating or life-threatening injuries.
Jerry D. Bailey is an NBC Sports thoroughbred racing analyst and a retired American Hall of Fame jockey. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest jockeys of all time.
The Apple Blossom Handicap is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares that are four years old or older, run under handicap conditions over a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt track held annually in April at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The 2024 running carried a purse of $1,250,000.
The Comely Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. Open to three year old fillies, it is raced on dirt over a distance of one mile. The Grade III event offers a purse of $200,000.
The Forty Niner Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older run over a distance of one mile on the dirt held annually in late October at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event offers a purse of $350,000.
Bayakoa was a Thoroughbred Champion racehorse bred in Argentina. After racing successfully in that country, Bayakoa was sold to Janis and Frank Whitham and subsequently raced in the United States, mainly in California. In the course of her career, Bayakoa won 13 Grade I stakes races including back-to-back renewals of the Breeders' Cup Distaff. She was the American Champion Older Female Horse of both 1989 and 1990 and was subsequently inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century, she was ranked 95th.
The Widener Handicap at Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida was a Grade III stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses 3-years-old and up. It was run over a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles until 1993 when it was modified to 1+1⁄8 miles. Initially called the Widener Challenge Cup Handicap, the race was named for Hialeah Park owner Joseph E. Widener. It was first run in 1936 as the East Coast counterpart to the Santa Anita Handicap in California.
Peter D. Anderson was an American jockey and Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He began his riding career in the latter part of the late 1940s and was the leading apprentice jockey in New York in 1948. Like many of his compatriots, Anderson struggled throughout his career to maintain his weight.
Carotene is a Canadian Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse who holds the filly or mare record for winning the most Sovereign Awards. Bred by David Willmot's Kinghaven Farms, she was a daughter of the British sire Great Nephew, who also sired Epsom Derby winners Grundy and Shergar. Carotene's dam was Carrot Top, a mare David Willmot purchased in foal from the Whitney family at the 1982 dispersal sale of their bloodstock in the United Kingdom.
The Orchid Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares that are four years or older held over a distance of one and one-half miles on the turf usually scheduled annually in late March as an under card event on Florida Derby day at Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach, Florida. The event currently carries a purse of $150,000.
Ginger Punch is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Owned and bred by operations belonging to automotive parts magnate Frank Stronach, she is out of the mare Nappelon and sired by the Canadian-bred Awesome Again, winner of his country's 1997 Queen's Plate and the 1998 Breeders' Cup Classic and who, as a sire, has produced four Breeders' Cup winners including the 2004 World Champion, Ghostzapper.
Chantal Sutherland is a Canadian model, television personality and jockey in North American Thoroughbred horse racing. She is referred to as the Danica Patrick of horse racing. She is known for her appearances on the reality tv show, Jockeys on Animal Planet, as well as being the poster girl for the Del Mar racetrack. During an interview on Sky Sports in the lead-up to the Dubai World Cup race, she said that her primary vocation was jockey.
Fappiano was an American Thoroughbred racehorse whose most important win was the 1981 Metropolitan Handicap. When retired to stud, he became a major sire whose offspring included Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled. He was named for Joseph C. Nichols (1905–1984), a long-time sportswriter for The New York Times, who was born Giuseppe Carmine Fappiano.
Douglas Allan Dodson was a Champion jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.
The Palm Beach Handicap is a discontinued American Grade 3 Thoroughbred horse race run between 1937 and 1976 at Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida. Open to horses aged three and older, from inception through 1965 it was run on dirt after which it became a race on turf.
Antonio "Tony" Vega was a Puerto Rican American Thoroughbred jockey and community activist from New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was a graded stakes winning, three-time champion jockey who competed in North American horse racing from 1982 to 2012.
"Cowboy" Jack Leroy Kaenel is a retired American jockey in Thoroughbred racing who, at age 16, became the youngest rider to ever win the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series when he rode Aloma's Ruler to victory in the 1982 Preakness Stakes.
Abigail Fuller is an American retired Thoroughbred jockey who primarily competed between the early 1980s and early 2000s. While competing in graded stakes races, Fuller won two Grade III events, one Grade II event and four Grade I events. Fuller won the majority of her graded stakes with Mom's Command between 1984 and 1985. Fuller was the 1985 Filly Triple Crown champion with her wins at the Mother Goose Stakes, Acorn Stakes and the Coaching Club American Oaks.
Luis Saez in Panama City, Panama) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. Saez rode Maximum Security to finish first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby but was subsequently disqualified due to interference. The two later won the world's richest race, the $20,000,000 Saudi Cup, in 2020. Saez won his first Breeders' Cup race in 2020 and first American Classic in 2021, both with champion Essential Quality.
Mecke was an American Thoroughbred racehorse purchased for $40,000 who retired having earned more than $2.4 million dollars while winning two Grade 1 stakes on grass and equaling a track record time in another Grade 1 race on dirt.