Kenneth Church
| Kenneth Church | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Ramona Handicap (1965) |
| Racing awards | |
| Leading jockey at Arlington Park (1950) Leading jockey at Washington Park (1953) | |
| Honours | |
| Windsor / Essex County Sports Hall of Fame (1997) | |
| Significant horses | |
| Oil Capitol, Crafty Admiral, Mr. Consistency, Native Diver | |
Kenneth Stanley Church (March 24, 1930 – July 13, 2020) was a Canadian jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.
Apprenticeship
Born in Windsor, Ontario, in his early teens Church began riding ponies and in 1946 got a job as an exercise rider at Old Woodbine Race Course in Toronto, Ontario. The following year, he was offered a chance to apprentice for future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame trainer Harry Trotsek who was widely recognized for his eye for riding talent and who also developed Hall of Fame jockeys, Johnny Sellers and John Rotz.[1] Kenneth Church began competing in novice races for jockeys which Trotsek had organized at Detroit Fair Grounds Racetrack. On July 12, 1947, he won the first race of a twenty-year career that would see him win more than 2,000 races from 14,000 mounts.
Riding career
During his career, Church rode at various tracks throughout the United States and was nicknamed "The Prince" by his fellow jockeys because of his blonde wavy hair and good looks.
Heroism at Arlington
On July 5, 1950, at Chicago's Arlington Park, Kenneth Church was the hero of an incident the
Retirement
Following his retirement from riding at the end of May, 1967, Kenneth Church remained in the industry and worked for many years in the publicity department at
In 1997, Kenneth Church was inducted in the city of Windsor, Ontario / Essex County, Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.[6]
Death
In early July 2020, Church contracted COVID-19 and pneumonia and died days later on July 13, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada.[7]
References
- ^ Demmie Stathoplos (1978-07-03). "Sixteen is sweet for Ronnie Hirdes, who is inviting the - 07.03.78 - SI Vault". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2009-03-11. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-03-30. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Crafty Admiral Scores Neck Win". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. 1953-03-15. Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
- ^ "Church Saves Jockey; Loses Race". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. 1950-07-06. Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
- ^ Associated, The (1950-07-06). "July 6, 1950 New York Times article on Kenneth Church's heroism at Arlington Park". Select.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
- ^ http://www.wecshof.ca/print_individual.php?id=160 Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine Biography of Ken Church at the Windsor / Essex County Sports Hall of Fame
- ^ "Ken Church, former jockey, Del Mar ambassador, dies at 90". San Diego Union-Tribune. 2020-07-14. Retrieved 2020-07-14.