Occupation Jockey Siblings William H. Fires Role Jockey | Name Earlie Fires Career wins 6,470 | |
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Awards George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award | ||
Q a with hall of fame jockey earlie fires at keeneland
Earlie Stancel Fires (born March 19, 1947 in Rivervale, Arkansas) is a retired National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame jockey.
Fires began riding professionally in 1964 and led all American apprentices in wins that year with 224. He retired on September 21, 2008 having won 6,470 races at racetracks across North America. In 1983, and again 1987, Fires set a record for Arlington Park by winning seven races in a single day of racing. He is Arlington Park's all-time leading rider with 2,886 wins and holds the record for most wins in that track's Lincoln Heritage Handicap with seven. He also has the distinction of riding in the Kentucky Derby after a 24 year hiatus, the longest gap for a jockey. At 51 he rode in the 100th Kentucky Derby and returned to Churchill Downs in the 124th Kentucky Derby in 1998.
In 1991, Fires was voted the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, given to a jockey who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack. He was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2001 and following its creation, the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
Earlie Fires' brother is trainer William H. Fires.