1916-
Jockey

Young Jockey.

Success.

Arcaro learned to ride almost by instinct, he once said, and rarely credited himself with a great ride, preferring to praise the horses. "You seldom hear of a jockey getting into a slump riding good horses," he explained. He rode in his first race in May 1931 and had not ridden a winner for forty-five races when he brought Eagle Bird to the wire in first place at Agua Caliente in January 1932. After Arcaro sustained two fractured ribs and a punctured lung in 1934, stable owner Clarence Davison, who had given Arcaro his first chance to ride, paying him $20 per week, sold his contract for $5,000 to Calumet Farms. There he had access to the best horses in racing and made his reputation, beginning with a winning ride on Larwin in the 1938 Kentucky Derby, the first of a record five Kentucky Derby wins.

Two Triple Crowns.