Sam Maple
Sam Maple | |
---|---|
Occupation | Co-Leading jockey at Oaklawn Park (1978) |
Significant horses | |
Cox's Ridge, Heatherten, Smart Angle Smarten, Temperence Hill |
Samuel A. Maple (July 18, 1953 - November 13, 2001) was an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.
Born in
In 1979, Maple was the regular jockey on
In 1988, Maple was diagnosed as having a brain tumor. He underwent surgery and returned to racing in April of the following year. In late August 1990, he was involved in a racing accident at Louisiana Downs that broke both of his legs and kept him out of racing for several months. On September 11, 1993, Maple earned his 2,500th career win in the second race at Turfway Park aboard Corvus.
Maple earned his last win at Churchill Downs in November 1995. After only a few rides in 1996, he retired from the sport. He and his family had made their home in Louisville, Kentucky in the early 1990s but in the fall of 2001 they moved to Wilmore, Kentucky, where he succumbed to his cancer at age forty-eight on November 13. He was survived by his wife Jill and their four children.