Kentucky Derby
Jockeys are athletes, too. This is a view of the Kentucky Derby jockeys' locker room in 1937, taken by LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstein. The facilities look none too luxurious, including a small shared shower.
In a second photo by Eisenstein, we see some clothes hanging from the ceiling.
In this photo of the Kentucky Derby locker room in 1945 by LIFE photographer Edward Clark, we see the jockeys' silks hanging from the ceiling, like miners' clothing in a coal mine changing room. The silks would make quite a colorful spectacle in a color photo, but I suspect some of you may be more interested in the jockey at lower right (click for larger view).
We end with this locker room photo after the 1954 Kentucky Derby. Jockey Eddie Arcaro (left), who had previously won the Derby five times and is widely regarded as the greatest American jockey ever, came in 4th in this race. Here he is making a fuss over the winning jockey, 20-year-old Ray York. Now that's good sportsmanship. Later in life, Arcaro said, "It's an odd thing about jockeys. They're the only paid athletes who, if you left them alone, would kill one another." Apparently he felt differently about Ray York.
5 comments:
The jockey on the right is also a famous rider -- Willie Shoemaker.
Fun Size Boys.
interesting
Very, very HOT!
What a great series of photos. I particularly like the last pic of the young jockey getting his hair dried while completely naked and laughing at the photographer.
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