54. Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron

Chris McCarron burst onto the scene in 1974... he won his first race in February of that year... and 546 more the rest of the year... setting an all-time record at the time. And he was just getting started. He would go on to be in the winner's circle an astonishing 7,141 times amassing over $264 million dollars in earnings... the most ever.
Born in Boston, McCarron was introduced to America when Frank Deford wrote a feature on him in Sports Illustrated in January of '75... and from there, Chris rode into history. He won the Kentucky Derby in '87 on Alysheba, and again in '94 on Go For Gin. He won the Preakness twice as well as the Belmont twice. 5 times he won the Breeders Cup Classic. And in 1984, he rode John Henry for the final 14 times of the legendary horses career, when at the age of 9, he won horse of the year.
In 1977, he took his talents to the West Coast and Santa Anita and was part of the greatest pack of jockeys ever to ride at the same time. Willie Shoemaker, Laffit Pincay, Jr., Eddie Delahoussaye, Gary Stevens, Kent Desormeaux, Sandy Hawley, Alex Solis, and Pat Valenzuela... and McCarron more than held his own, winning 21% of his races in his storied career.
Now, 20+ years removed from the saddle, McCarron joins us on the Past Our Prime podcast to talk about that feature in SI... what Deford wrote about him that he didn't care for... how his older brother Gregg, also a jockey, called his parents and said Chris was too scared to ride horses... how it felt to win the Derby with Alysheba and how John Henry did the impossible at age 9.
He's part of horse racing royalty. A king in the Sport of Kings. Join us for a trip around the track with an all-time great... Chris McCarron on the POP podcast.
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