Hall of Fame jockey Bobby Ussery dead at 88

Bobby Ussery, the Hall of Fame jockey whose exploits as a rider led to a particular portion of Aqueduct’s main track to be dubbed “Ussery’s Alley,” died earlier this week in Hollywood, Fla., due to congestive heart failure, according to his son Robert Ussery Jr. He was 88.

Officially, Ussery rode his first mount, Reticule, to victory in the 1951 Thanksgiving Handicap in New Orleans. He rode in Florida throughout the 1950s before moving his tack in 1959 to New York, where he rode a then-record 215 winners that year. In 1960, Ussery won the Preakness, Florida Derby, and Flamingo on Bally Ache and was the regular rider of champion 2-year-old Hail to Reason.

In 1967, Ussery won the Kentucky Derby aboard Proud Clarion in a 30-1 upset. He finished first in the 1968 Derby on Dancer’s Image, who was later disqualified from that victory for testing positive for phenylbutazone in his post-race sample.

Ussery, a native of Vian, Okla., enjoyed great success in New York. At Aqueduct, Ussery had a knack of guiding horses to the outside on the backstretch and far turn, then gunning down the banked turn. The outside part of the track on the backstretch and the far turn became known as “Ussery’s Alley.”

“Ussery noted that the water trucks and other equipment often left the huge storage tank near the five-eighths pole and then slanted down to the rail on the far turn,” Seymour Smith wrote in the April 28, 1979, Baltimore Sun. “He reasoned the path must be fast, and if he had horse and post position, down the path he would go.”

Ussery won many of New York’s most prestigious races, including the Travers, Alabama, Whitney, Manhattan, Coaching Club American Oaks, Mother Goose, Carter, Hopeful, Brooklyn (twice), and Wood Memorial (twice).

Ussery won the 1959 Queen’s Plate on New Providence. That horse would go on to win the Canadian triple crown, but Ussery did not ride the horse in the final two legs.

Nine times in his career Ussery ranked in the top 10 in earnings among riders.

Ussery retired in 1974 and in 1980 he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Ussery won 3,611 races and upon his retirement was just the 10th jockey to surpass 3,000 wins and he ranked fifth all-time in earnings.

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