Our emblem was created by the renowned artist Bernie Fuchs. It is symbolic of what we wish for our riders. . ."Safe Trip"

HOW RACING FANS CAN HELP

P.O. Box 18470
Encino, CA 91416
(310)550-4542 voice
(818)981-6914 fax

BOARD of DIRECTORS & OFFICERS
 

WHY DO WE NEED THE FUND?

Have you ever noticed that an ambulance follows the horses around during a race? Clearly a sign that this is a very dangerous profession. The potential for injury to a slightly over 100 pound rider in a field of unpredictable, tightly packed, 1000+ pounds horses, going about 35mph, is very real. An accident can occur in an instant that changes their lives forever. Horses kick, buck, bite, jump shadows, and duck or bolt suddenly for no apparent reason.

Great riders have been killed on horseback, including: Georgie Woolf, whose riding style was so unhurried he was known around the backstretch as "the Iceman"; Jackie Westrope, who hit the rail at Hollywood Park; and Alvaro Pineda, who was mortally injured when a horse reared in the starting gate.

Almost every jockey riding today has broken bones and has had a brush with death. Some of them return from their injuries to ride again. Others have to settle for a wheelchair. Or a dialysis machine.

Chris McCarron makes anybody’s top five list of premium jockeys today—or ever. Trainers clamor for his services. But Chris McCarron almost didn’t get to ride in one of the most important races of his life, his first win in the Kentucky Derby. That was because, only a few months before, he had broken his leg in four places in an on track accident, and had been on so few mounts before Alysheba's Derby that speculation was rife at Churchill Downs that trainer Jack Van Berg would go to another jock.

It was during the time he was aground, learning to move with crutches, that McCarron began to reflect on the fragility of a riding career and to wonder what a less-successful rider would be able to do after a calamitous accident. If the public doesn’t realize how dangerous race riding is, the insurance companies do. McCarron could reflect on the fact he could afford the $15,000 a year his premiums cost him. His mounts have made millions on the racetrack.

But what about the little-known riders on claiming horses at Queen City Downs? How about the guys who get on 40-1 shots at Beulah Park and will never even have a chance at a Derby mount? What do they do when their legs get broken in four places. . . when their necks go in a brace. . . their lives go on hold?

You have heard of Ron Turcotte. He rode the great Secretariat. He rode consecutive Kentucky Derby winners. Ron Turcotte was injured in a race and he now spends his days in a wheelchair. There are hundreds like him. One day it’s roses in the winner’s circle, the next it’s flowers in a hospital vase. That’s why the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund came into being.

It all began when that eminent horseplayer, devoted fan and occasional racehorse owner, Tim Conway, the TV funnyman, was doing a show at Canterbury Downs racetrack near Minneapolis. He wanted to donate his fee to a fund for jockeys down on their luck. Problem was there was no such fund.

There is now. Conway got together with Judy McCarron, Chris’ wife, who saw at first hand what an end to a riding career might bring. The Fund was named for the late rider, Don MacBeth, who rode Chief’s Crown in the 1985 classics, and who died of cancer in 1987. Don MacBeth, well respected by all who knew him or rode against him, was more than just an exceptional jockey, he was an exceptional man. He lived his life on principle and spent much of his time trying to help those less fortunate than he. Thus naming the Fund in his honor was a natural.

From its modest beginnings, Conway’s $5,000, the Fund’s dollars have seen plenty of use in ways as simple as paying the rent while a rider recovers from injuries, to the purchase of medical equipment needed by permanently disabled riders. The Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund has made a substantial difference in the lives of many grateful jockeys and their families, as evidenced by the many letters we receive. As a racing fan, click here to find out how you can help.