Hall of Fame Quarter Horse jockey Danny Cardoza dies at 77
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Danny Cardoza, an All American Futurity-winning jockey turned Grade 1-winning trainer and a member of the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame, died Monday at the age of 77, according to the American Quarter Horse Association.
Cardoza was inducted into the Hall in 2002.
Cardoza, grew up in Hanford, Calif., launched his riding career as a teenager, according to the AQHA. As a jockey, AQHA stats show Cardoza won more than 3,000 races between 1970 and his retirement in 1991 with mount earnings of more than $22 million. There are no official records of the races he won prior to 1970.
One of his signature mounts was Pie in the Sky, with whom he won the 1979 All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs. He also won multiple runnings of the Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos.
Cardoza ranks second in all-time Quarter Horse wins as a jockey at Los Alamitos, with 2,528, according to an Instagram post by the California track. He won nine riding titles at the track, with his first in 1975 and his last in 1988.
“We are saddened to hear the news of the passing of legendary jockey Danny Cardoza,” the post from Los Alamitos reads. “He was a true legend in Quarter Horse racing and his name will forever be etched in the record books at Los Alamitos.”
The Los Alamitos post also noted Cardoza won the 1986 Champion of Champions with Gold Coast Express, who was trained by Bob Baffert, and the 1984 Champions of Champions with Dashs Dream, who was trained by Mike Robbins.
Cardoza also won the Golden State Million Futurity three times, including the 1981 running with Dashingly.
As a trainer, Cardoza had 690 starters who earned more than $4.3 million, according to statistics from the AQHA. Some of his top runners included Dashing Knud, Dinastia Toll BRZ, Hateful Hanna, Old Habits, and Your First Moon.
Cardoza’s hobbies included competing in team roping events aboard retired racehorses, according to the AQHA. He is survived by his wife, Debbie, and children Tiffany Bohland, Shane Cardoza, and Kaelie Cardoza.
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