Johnny Loftus

Johnny Loftus was an American Thoroughbred jockey born in Chicago, Illinois, on 13 October 1895, who rode professionally between 1909 and 1919 and won 580 of his 2,449 races, a success rate of 23.7 percent. In 1916 he won the Travers Stakes and the Withers Stakes on Spur and the Kentucky Derby on George Smith, and in 1918 he took the Preakness Stakes on War Cloud. He rode Man o' War in eight races, including the only defeat of that horse's career. In 1919 he rode Sir Barton to victory in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, making them the first American Triple Crown winners, and he finished the year as the leading money winner among American jockeys. He then retired to train horses and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1959.