Right here’s a query to ponder: Suppose that you simply’re an up-and-coming younger jockey, not but 25 years previous and fewer than a decade into your profession. Out of the blue, you’re referred to as upon to journey arguably the best horse of all time within the closing begin of his illustrious profession. May you deal with the stress?
It appears like one thing out of a film, however for jockey Edward “Eddie” Maple, this chance was actual. And for the report, Maple did deal with the stress, which was arguably the turning level in what would develop into a legendary Corridor of Fame driving profession.
Maple was born on Nov. 8, 1948, in Carrollton, Ohio, and grew up as considered one of 9 youngsters on his household’s farm. From an early age, he had the construct to achieve success as a jockey – author Jim McCulley notes within the July 13, 1972, version of the New York Each day Information that Maple “was ‘quickly outgrown’ by his neighborhood friends and classmates, who grew as much as be basketball and soccer gamers.”
However Maple quickly put his measurement to good use. “It wasn’t straightforward to be left behind at first,” Maple informed McCulley, “however I assume it turned out to be a blessing for me. I received a job with George Stribling, cooking and caring for horses once I was 14 and I cherished it. And it’s nonetheless horses.”
Earlier than lengthy, Maple was driving horses for Stribling and picked up his first victory aboard a horse named Swami when he was simply 17 years previous. Swami can be the primary of many winners that Maple rode throughout the ensuing years; after beginning out of the smaller racing circuits in Ohio, West Virginia, and New Jersey, a victory within the 1971 Florida Derby aboard Calumet Farm’s Japanese Fleet offered Maple with two new alternatives. For one, it gave him his first journey within the Kentucky Derby – he completed fourth. Extra importantly, it gave Maple a chance to journey for Calumet Farm in New York, the place he would have an opportunity to show himself in opposition to a few of the greatest jockeys within the nation.
Success got here steadily. A horse named Droll Function gave Maple a string of main wins throughout the nation in 1972 as he prevailed within the Gray Lag Handicap at Aqueduct, the Hawthorne Gold Cup at Hawthorne, and the Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs. Maple was additionally the common rider of King’s Bishop, the winner of 5 stakes races in 1972 and 1973.
However Maple’s breakthrough second got here late in 1973 when he was provided the chance to journey the record-breaking Triple Crown winner Secretariat within the Canadian Worldwide at Woodbine, a prestigious 1 5/8-mile turf race that might mark the finale of Secretariat’s profession. Secretariat’s common rider, Ron Turcotte, was serving a suspension, and Maple – who had ridden for Secretariat’s crew prior to now – was a last-minute alternative.
Secretariat was already a legend in his personal time, and Maple should have felt some stress to ship the proper journey and convey Secretariat dwelling a winner. Luckily, Secretariat was able to roll within the Canadian Worldwide, and Maple –profiting from the colt’s seemingly bottomless stamina – allowed Secretariat to open up an enormous 12 size lead partway by the race earlier than cruising dwelling in entrance by 6 ½ lengths.
“Up till that point, Secretariat was actually the most effective horse I had ever ridden, and after that, I don’t suppose I rode one which was higher,” Maple informed author Deirdre B. Biles in an article for the Aug. 15, 2009, version of BloodHorse. “He was large and highly effective, and he carried his head the right means. He did every part good beside the horse, and when he went to the beginning gate, he broke like a shot, and principally that was it; I simply held on.”
That victory seemingly put Maple on the map, and from that time on his profession was a gentle ascent to stardom. By 1976, he was driving a few of the greatest horses within the nation, together with the Grade 1 winners Silly Pleasure (who upset three-time Horse of the 12 months Forego within the Suburban Handicap) and Optimistic Gal. Even higher, Maple was forging an alliance with the Corridor of Fame coach Woody Stephens, for whom Maple guided the younger filly Mrs. Warren to a pair of Grade 1 wins.
The Maple/Stephens partnership can be among the many strongest in racing over the following decade. The pair teamed as much as win the 1978 Kentucky Oaks with White Star Line, whereas De La Rose, Conquistador Cielo, Swale, Satan’s Bag, Sabin, Miss Oceana, I’m Sweets, and Forty Niner have been only a few of the opposite Grade 1 winners they raced collectively. Maple and Stephens loved a very good streak of success with Crème Frache, who rattled off Grade 1 wins within the 1985 Belmont Stakes, American Derby, Jerome Handicap, Tremendous Derby, and 1986 Donn Handicap.
However by the Nineties, Stephens’ coaching profession was winding down, and Maple, searching for new alternatives, shook issues up by agreeing to journey in Italy for the profitable steady of Antonio Balzarini. Whereas Maple did take pleasure in success, profitable the 1991 Premio Regina Elena (Italian 1,000 Guineas) aboard Arranvanna, proprietor and jockey parted methods after only a few months and Maple returned to the U.S. to rebuild his profession on dwelling soil, a process simpler stated than carried out.
In September 1991, Maple resumed driving at Belmont Park, however was sluggish to construct momentum. “Within the wintertime, I used to be as little as I might have gotten from a rider’s standpoint,” Maple informed author Invoice Finley for an article within the July 30, 1992, version of the New York Each day Information.
However perseverance paid off, and by 1992, Maple was driving as if he had by no means left, profitable Grade 1 races aboard Missy’s Mirage and Sky Magnificence. He not rode with the frequency that he had earlier than his foray to Italy, however he didn’t have to. At age 43, Maple was a veteran jockey favoring high quality over amount, and the graded stakes wins stored on coming.
“How are you going to trust that issues can be this good?” Maple informed Finley. “I believed I might claw my means again, however I believed it could be gradual … I feel my confidence began to develop and I began driving higher horses.”
Maple rode his closing races on Might 25, 1998, profitable with considered one of his three mounts earlier than saying his shock retirement whereas receiving the Mike Venezia Memorial Award for his “extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship.” Maple left the game with a report few jockeys can match – in North America, he rode 4,398 winners and gained $105,338,573 in purse cash, totals that at present rank him 51st and 50th, respectively, among the many sport’s all-time main jockeys.
After all, you may take the jockey out of horse racing, however you may’t take horses out of the jockey. After hanging up his tack for good, Maple and his spouse, Kate, managed the Rose Hill Equestrian Heart at Rose Hill Plantation in South Carolina they usually have been additionally energetic in breeding Thoroughbreds for a time. He now’s having fun with retirement in Bluffton, S.C.
However though Maple is not concerned in racing, his achievements haven’t been forgotten. In 2009, Maple acquired the game’s highest honor when he was inducted into the Nationwide Museum of Racing’s Corridor of Fame, becoming a member of his former associates Secretariat and Woody Stephens.
It’s solely becoming, don’t you suppose?
Be aware: This story was initially revealed in 2018 and has been up to date.
Enjoyable Info
- Among the finest horses that Maple rode was Temperence Hill, winner of the 1980 Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes, and Jockey Membership Gold Cup.
- Maple by no means gained the Kentucky Derby, although he did end second in 1982 aboard longshot Laser Gentle and third in 1978 aboard Imagine It.
- The final Grade 1 winner that Maple rode was Awad, who set a still-standing course report when profitable the 1995 1 ¼-mile Arlington Million Stakes in 1:58.69 seconds.
- Maple’s first profession win got here at Charles City in West Virginia, and in 2012 he was inducted into the monitor’s Racing Corridor of Fame.
- In 1995, Maple was honored with the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award.
- Maple’s youthful brother Sam Maple was additionally a really profitable jockey, together with his high mounts together with the Grade 1 winners Sensible Angle, Jatski, and Heatherten.
