December 2, 2008
Bill Hartack: 1932-2007
Hall of Famer won Preakness 3 times
Bill Hartack was not the easiest jockey to get along with, and that was fine with him. He simply let his riding take him to the top of the thoroughbred racing world.
"What we'll remember is his tenacity, his competitiveness," said Chick Lang, Hartack's agent in the 1950s and a former general manager of Pimlico Race Course. "He liked what he was doing, and he did it very well. In his profession, there was no one better."
Hartack, a Hall of Famer, was found dead in a cabin while on a hunting vacation in Freer, Texas. He was 74. He died Monday night of heart disease, said Dr. Corinne Stern, chief medical examiner of Webb County. Stern said yesterday that Hartack's family had been notified and that funeral arrangements were being made.
Hartack and Eddie Arcaro, both Hall of Famers, are the only jockeys to win the Kentucky Derby five times. Hartack won with Iron Liege in 1957, Venetian Way in 1960, Decidedly in 1962, Northern Dancer in 1964 and Majestic Prince in 1969.
He won the Preakness aboard Fabius in 1956, Northern Dancer in 1964 and Majestic Prince in 1969, and took the Belmont Stakes with Celtic Ash in 1960.
Hartack rode in the United States until 1974 and had 4,272 wins from 21,535 mounts, winning nearly 20 percent of his races. He rode in Hong Kong from 1978 to 1980.
Born Dec. 9, 1932, in Ebensburg, Pa., William John Hartack Jr. took a job as an exercise and stable boy at age 17 at Charles Town Race Course in West Virginia.
He began riding at West Virginia's Waterford Park in 1952 and became a star the following year.
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