Sande, Earl

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SANDE, Earl

(b. 13 November 1898 in Groton, South Dakota; d. 19 August 1968 in Oregon), regarded as the most successful jockey of the 1920s, rode Gallant Fox to a Triple Crown series of victories in 1930 and won three Kentucky Derbies, five Belmont Stakes, and one Preakness Stakes.

Sande was one of six children of John C. Sande, a railroad worker, and Mrs. Sande, a homemaker. Sande's career as a jockey and horse trainer and breeder began during his youth on the rocky terrain of the American West. Born in the small town of Groton, Sande relocated with his family to American Falls, Idaho, during his childhood. At age twelve, Sande bought his first horse, which he raced at county fairs. Growing somewhat tall for a typical jockey at five feet, six inches, and struggling to maintain an ideal racing weight of 112 pounds, Sande nevertheless became determined to pursue a career in horse racing. As a teenager, Sande continued to race at county fairs for owner Doc Pardee in Phoenix, Arizona.

Although Sande attempted to enlist for military service in World War I, his slight stature disqualified him for duty. Carrying on with his training, Sande moved to New Orleans, where he became an apprentice rider to thorough-bred owner and trainer Joe Goodman. Under his contract with Goodman, Sande earned $20 a month; he was also promised a fee of $10 for every race he entered, with a bonus of an additional $15 if he won. More importantly, Sande's apprenticeship allowed him to qualify as a jockey after he won forty races. After his first victory on 21 January 1918 at the New Orleans fairgrounds, Sande completed his forty wins in just over three months, concluding with his 27 April 1918 win in Lexington, Kentucky.

Sande's graduation to jockey status in such a short time gained the young rider an impressive reputation, one that was enhanced by his four wins in six races in a single day in 1918 at Havre de Grace, Maryland. Sande claimed that his success resulted from understanding not only how his own horse performed, but how the other horses in the race would perform as well. Sande's almost preternatural ability to predict the habits of other horses in a race and adjust his own strategy accordingly would eventually give him a record of 968 wins, some 26.4 percent of all races he entered. At his peak in the 1920s, he won an average of ninety races each year and was regarded as the nation's leading rider in 1921, 1923, and 1927.

Sande married the former Marion Casey in 1923. His career continued to climb with his victory riding Zev in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville on 19 May. Sande and Zev took the one-and-a-quarter mile race by one-and-a-half lengths. The duo also won the Belmont Stakes in New York, but were prevented from earning a Triple Crown of victories when Zev was injured just before the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore. Sande himself suffered major injuries in August 1924 while racing in Saratoga, New York. When another horse cut across the field during the race, Sande was thrown from his mount and was trampled by three other horses. With multiple fractures in his right leg and a broken collarbone and rib, Sande was off the racetrack for several months.

Although some predicted that Sande would not regain his winning form, a second victory at the Kentucky Derby on 15 May 1925 on Flying Ebony put such doubts to rest. As in his 1923 run, Sande and Flying Ebony took the lead by one-and-a-half lengths; the win was especially impressive given the horse's lack of experience at such a distance. By now, Sande earned a salary that approached $50,000 a year and was regarded as the most popular jockey in the nation. However, as he approached his thirties, Sande was beset by a number of professional and personal setbacks. Marion Casey Sande died in September 1927. In addition to this loss, Sande faced a suspension by the Maryland Jockey Club in November of that year for cutting off another rider at Maryland's Pimlico track. Finally, Sande was beginning to have difficulty making the weight requirement of 112–115 pounds. Together, these factors contributed to Sande's decision to retire as a jockey in 1927 and take up a new career as a Thoroughbred trainer and owner.

Soon in debt for $75,000, Sande returned to the mount in 1930 on Gallant Fox; together, the team became one of horse racing's legendary pairings. In the first of the three races on the way to a Triple Crown, Sande rode Gallant Fox to a surprising victory at the Preakness Stakes on 9 May. With a poor start, Gallant Fox trailed the field for the greater part of the race, coming alive only in the final stretch to overtake Crack Brigade for the win. On 17 May 1930 at Churchill Downs, Sande and Gallant Fox duplicated their efforts at the Preakness; once again, a troubled start gave way to a powerful finish down the back stretch, and Gallant Fox took the Kentucky Derby by two lengths. Completing the Triple Crown, Sande and Gallant Fox rode to an easy victory by three lengths in the Belmont Stakes on 7 June. It was the first Triple Crown achievement in horse racing since 1919 and confirmed Sande's reputation as the best jockey of his generation; he even earned the sobriquet "the handy man" based on a Damon Runyon verse in tribute to his skills.

Retiring again from his career as a jockey in 1932, Sande became a successful trainer for a short period before becoming a horse breeder and owner. Unfortunately, Sande's talents as a rider did not translate into success as an owner, and he was soon in debt and out of business. While he was offered several lucrative endorsement and personal appearance deals, Sande's sense of pride refused to let him take the easy money. Instead, he reentered the race course as a jockey for one last race in 1953 at the age of fifty-five at the Jamaica Racetrack in New York. He won the race, although it was widely acknowledged that the other riders allowed him to win out of respect.

By the end of the 1950s, Sande was living in a small apartment without a bathroom above a bar on Long Island, New York. A second marriage had broken up; as in the first union, there were no children. Too poor to afford bus fare, Sande could not even take advantage of the season passes that were sent to him by area race tracks; despite the poverty, he continued to turn down offers to make personal appearances. In declining health, Sande returned west to live near his family and spent the last part of his life in an Oregon nursing home. He died on 19 August 1968 at the age of sixty-nine.

A survey of Sande's life by Gene Smith was published in American Heritage (Sept. 1996). A contemporary profile of Sande appears in Charles H. L. Johnston, Famous American Athletes of Today, Second Series (1930). Sande's famous races on Gallant Fox are recounted in Marvin Drager, The Most Glorious Crown: The Story of America ' s Triple Crown Thoroughbreds, from Sir Barton to Secretariat (1975). Additional information on Sande's career and horse racing in general is in Edward L. Bowen, The Jockey Club ' s Illustrated History of Thoroughbred Racing in America (1994), and Bill Doolittle, The Kentucky Derby: Run for the Roses (1998). An obituary appeared as an article by John S. Radosta, "Rode the Greats," in the New York Times (21 Aug. 1968).

Timothy Borden