Shoemaker: America's Greatest Jockey

by Bill Shoemaker, Barney Nagler

In an account of his adventurous life and career, one of America's top jockeys reveals his childhood, his work with horses, and his behind-the-scenes experiences over the course of thirty-seven years of racing

267 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1988

About the author

A jockey who raced professionally from 1949 until 1990. He won 8,833 races.

After retiring as a jockey, Shoemaker turned to training horses. His horses won 90 races from 714 starts.

Reviews

[Nic]

Bill Shoemaker was a much better rider than he was a writer. While I enjoyed learning more about this very accomplished jockey, I thought the book could have used a strong editor. So many stories are told out of sequence or out of place, that it was like taking two steps forward and one step back. For example, he tells the story of marrying Cindy, then the next paragraph begins, "Two years before I married Cindy..." but what follows has nothing to do with marriage or Cindy so why not just tell that part before he talks of marrying Cindy?
Writing aside, it is somewhat bittersweet to read this 30 years after it was published and realize how many of those track he rode at are gone now and how many of those races aren't run anymore. And, of course, you can't remember The Shoe without thinking of Ferdinand, a fantastic horse who deserved a much happier ending than the one he got at the cruel hands of the Japanese, who sent the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner to slaughter.

[Frances]

It needed an editor badly. It was an exciting story boringly told.