This Week in Horse History - March 1st Through March 7th

March 2-3, 2002 - The USET Reining Championship Qualifier was held. The competition was for a spot in the USET Reining Championship Semi-Finals, held in May. The top twenty riders from the Semi-Finals then progress to the $100,000 USET Reining Championship, held in June. Shawn Flarida won the Qualifier riding San Jo Freckles and earned $2,718.95 doing so. There was a tie for second place between Bryant Pace riding Debra Sloan's Gunner, and Tom McCutcheon on Smartest Chic Olena. Both second place winners received awards of $1,882.35.

Information courtesy of :Flarida, Rome and Haverty Win Intervetuset Qualifiers at the Florid...

Photo courtesy of: World Equestrian Games Preview: Reining

March 3rd, 1985 - Jockey Bill Shoemaker wins the Santa Anita Handicap and becomes the first jockey to earn $100 million in purse earnings. Shoemaker rode the Thoroughbred Lord to War to a first place finish in the $500,600 race at Santa Anita Park in California. Shoemaker had previously won the Santa Anita Handicap with ten other mounts, including the famous John Henry. At the time of his victory, Shoemaker was 53 years old and already had 8,446 racing victories, 917 of those in stakes races.

Information courtesy of: Shoemaker Tops $100 Million

Photo courtesy of: Jockey Bill Shoemaker

March 6th, 1988 - Julie Krone won her 1,205th race, becoming the winningest female jockey ever in racing history. Until Krone's victory, the record for the number of victories earned by a female jockey was held by Patricia Cooksey. Krone rode a filly named Squawter at Aqueduct Racetrack and was victorious in the ninth race. Krone would go on to become the first woman to win 3,500 races in February of 1999. She retired later that April. In 2000, Krone was inducted into the National Museum of Racing of Fame.