Jellison, longtime jockey on New England circuit, dies at 51

Jill Jellison, who rode for 30 years, primarily on the New England circuit, died last week following a long battle with cancer. She was 51.

Jellison won her first race aboard Mighty Peter at Finger Lakes in 1982. The Rhode Island native posted 1,989 victories during her career for earnings of more than $13.5 million. Her best season was in 1989, when she rode 241 winners and won the riding title that summer at Rockingham Park. She was finally forced to retire in 2013 due to her illness after winning 35 races from 147 mounts that year, a 23 percent success rate, at Suffolk Downs.

“Jill was a great competitor and a great friend,” said former rider Abigail Fuller. “We started our bug together in 1982. She was a straight shooter and down to earth. She never got cocky, no matter how much success she had. And if anything bothered her out on the racetrack, she always left it there. She never brought it back to the room with her. And I loved her style; she always seemed to save something for the stretch with every horse she rode.”

Fuller said Jellison told her that one of the highlights of her career was participating in the Lady Legends race at Pimlico in 2012.

“She actually wound up replacing me in the race after my dad died,” said Fuller. “She had just retired to go back to school to become a vet technician. But she came back again the next year and had a terrific meet at Suffolk even though she had already begun treatments for her illness at the time.”

Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. Eastern at All Saints Church in Woonsocket, R.I.