Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron spent a few days in Shakopee, MN last week to help raise funds for the Leg-Up Fund. The Fund follows in the footsteps of the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund except the fund is intended exclusively for jockeys at Canterbury Park. McCarron headlined a Casino Night and even offered himself to the highest bidder the next day for a morning of golf at Hazeltine National Golf Club as well as an evening at a Minnesota Twins game.
In a sit-down with Canterbury Park track announcer Paul Allen, McCarron outlined why this cause is so important.
“Our job looks pretty glamourous,” said McCarron. “It can be that, but it is also very, very, very dangerous. Since the Jockeys Guild was founded in 1940 and they began keeping records, two jockeys a year are killed in racing or training accidents every year. And two more are paralyzed. That doesn’t include exercise riders in the morning and there are a lot more accidents in the morning than in the afternoon.”
Jockeys are self-employed. As independent contractors, they only make money when they ride. Should an accident sideline a jockey for any length of time, covering expenses can become very difficult. The Leg-Up Fund was designed to help injured jockeys with some of these expenses.
“Canterbury Park was always number one as far as raising funds for injured jockeys around the country,” said McCarron. “Now with the MacBeth Fund by the wayside, you’ve taken it upon yourselves to do it for your local riders here.”
“The turnout tonight was excellent,” said Leg-Up Chairperson Willa Dailey. “I’m very pleased with the night and I am especially pleased that Chris McCarron could be a part of it. I am hopeful that we can be as successful here on a local level as the MacBeth fund was on a national level.”
Allen led McCarron through stories of growing up wanting to play hockey in Boston until he realized he was too small and he just didn’t like getting hit, through his years with the immortal John Henry and his establishment of the North American Riding Academy in conjunction with the Bluegrass Community and Technical College in Kentucky.
The most emotional moment of the evening came when McCarron reminisced about the late Hall of Fame jockey Bill Shoemaker.
“Shoe was a very dear friend,” said McCarron, his voice filled with emotion. “He was godfather to my daughter Stephanie. The guy was the most humble, incredibly smart, talented person you’d ever want to meet. To walk up to him and have a conversation with him you would have no idea the success he had achieved.”
While most people were unaware how great an athlete Shoemaker was, McCarron did and shared that with his audience, along with the perseverance it took to become great when everyone around Shoe was telling him he couldn’t do it.
“He was a helluva golfer,” McCarron said. “He was an eight handicap for a long time. He was a helluva tennis player, despite having to hit the ball up to get it over the net. He was to me and everyone else in the jockey colony out there in California and elsewhere.”
While there will be events all summer long for the Fund, the next focal point will be Leg Up Day at Canterbury Park, June 26.
“There will be something for everyone in the family,” said Dailey. “We have just added an event for youngsters which is a horseshoe toss through hula hoops to go along with a raffle, silent auction and other events – all devoted to the health and welfare of our local jockeys.”
