Eddie Dugan (b. c. 1892 in California – date of death not found) was a jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing who won three American Classic Races and two Canadian Classic Races. In addition, Dugan raced and won in Russian Empire.
In 1907, Eddie Dugan was an apprentice jockey. He rode in Chicago and at racetracks in the Northeastern United States where a New York City newspaper called him "the cleverest apprentice in the east." Dugan's wins that year included the Manhattan Handicap and the first of two Suburban Handicaps. In 1908, a year when the Hart–Agnew Law banned gambling in New York, the number of Thoroughbred races was limited and the industry, without revenue from betting, was on the verge of collapse.[1] Hired by major stable owners Harry Whitney and Richard T. Wilson Jr., Eddie Dugan won the first of his three American Classic Races, riding Royal Tourist to victory in the Preakness Stakes. In the pre U.S. Triple Crown era, Dugan never rode in the Kentucky Derby.
A very aggressive rider, on September 23, 1908 The New York Times reported that two jockeys had been seriously hurt in a race at Gravesend Race Track on Coney Island due to rough riding by Eddie Dugan for which he was fined and suspended. The Times wrote that Dugan's action was so egregious that other riders in the jockeys' room threatened to attack him.[2] Banned from competing, after his suspension expired Eddie Dugan returned to riding in January 1909 at Santa Anita Park in California.
With racing in the United States still limited from the effects of the Hart–Agnew Law that banned betting on horse races, in April 1909 Eddie Dugan went to England to ride for Harry Whitney but was not granted a jockey license after American Jockey Club records showed he had been suspended six times for rough riding [3][4] Returning to the United States, Dugan had an outstanding year, winning his second Suburban Handicap, plus the Brooklyn, Jerome and Saranac Handicaps. He also won his second American Classic, riding Sam Hildreth's colt, Joe Madden, to an eight-length win in the Belmont Stakes en route to becoming the United States Champion Jockey by wins.[5]
In another very limited year of racing, in 1910 Eddie Dugan's wins included his second Brooklyn Handicap as well as the Tremont Stakes at Gravesend Race Track. On April 14, 1911, at the Jamestown track at Norfolk, Virginia, Dugan was again blamed for another serious racing accident that sent two jockeys to hospital.[6] On May 17, 1911, he won his second Preakness Stakes aboard Watervale, then traveled to Toronto, Canada where three days after his American classic win, he captured the May 20th Canadian Classic, the King's Plate on the colt St. Bass, owned by Harry Giddings and trained by Harry Giddings, Jr. Three days after that, Dugan and St. Bass won a second Canadian Classic, the Breeders' Stakes.[7]
With racing still restricted in the United States and many New York tracks closed, in 1913 and 1914 Eddie Dugan and his brother Willie traveled to Russian Empire where they competed successfully. They were forced to return to the United States in the fall of 1914 when World War I broke out.[8]
His career in decline and battling weight gain, by August 1915 Eddie Dugan was accepting rides on outside mounts and declaring he could make a 109-pound weight.[9] Out of racing for a few years, he attempted a short-lived comeback at Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico.[10]
- ^ "Penalties in the New York Bills". Daily Racing Form. 1908-01-18. Retrieved 2018-10-26 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
- ^ "TWO JOCKEYS HURT BY SPILL IN RACE; Rough Riding by Eddie Dugan Sends Yorke and Smith Down with Mounts. SMITH IS LIKELY TO DIE Judges Fine and Suspend Dugan and Other Riders Threaten to Attack Him". The New York Times. 23 September 1908.
- ^ "One race for Vanderbilt" (PDF). The New York Times. Paris. April 5, 1909.
- ^ "ENGLISH TURF BARS JOCKEY EDDIE DUGAN; Investigation of His "Rough Riding" Record Results in License Being Withheld. MAY RETURN TO AMERICA Is Under Contract to Harry Payne Whitney and Is Likely to Find Employment in Whitney American Stable". 28 March 1909. Retrieved 27 January 2024 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ "Notable achievements in the world of sports in 1909" (PDF). The New York Times. December 26, 1909.
- ^ "JOCKEYS HURT IN a SPILL.; Adams, Bell, and Connolly Victims -- Eddie Dugan Blamed for Mishap". The New York Times. 15 April 1911.
- ^ "Re-Entry of Jockey E. Dugan His Fame and Feats of Riding". Daily Racing Form. 1922-12-13. Retrieved 2020-03-11 – via University of Kentucky Archives.
- ^ "The Evening Independent - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
- ^ "SENECA SELLING STAKES FOR HANSON; Saratoga Races Run over Slow Track -- Day for Cheap Horses at Spa". The New York Times. 4 August 1915.
- ^ December 29, 1922 Los Angeles Times article titled Eddie Dugan in Comeback at Tijuana