Mack Garner

Andrew Mack Garner (December 23, 1898 – October 28, 1936) was an American jockey who won the 1934 Kentucky Derby as well as the 1929 and 1933 Belmont Stakes. He was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1969. Mack Garner made his professional racing debut on July 16, 1914, at a Butte, Montana racetrack.

Personal life Always known by Mack, Garner was born in Centerville, Iowa on December 23, 1898, to Theodore Garner and Sarah Clements Garner.

Career Garner was 5 feet three inches tall and 67 pounds when he started his professional career. He debuted professionally on July 16, 1914, at a Butte, Montana racetrack on the horse Gold Ball. His first winning race was with the horse Sam Connor on August 15, 1914. Garner said of his winning race, "Was I tickled? Well, I'll say I was. Imagine a kid my size and weight riding a winner at one mile and sixteenth!" In 1915, he won more races and more prize money than any jockey in the United States. In 1929, he again led all jockeys in earnings with $314,975.

Garner went from riding for Cain to riding for J. L. Holland. He then rode for Price and Corrigan who paid $25,000 for his contract. The next people he rode for were R. L. Baker, J. C. Milan, Pete Coyne, and then Moe Lowenstein.

A 1923 article from The Des Moines Register stated that Garner "has ridden for every important horse racer in the country". The same article proclaimed Garner and his rival Earl Sande as the world's greatest horse racers.

When asked what he considered the best horse that he has ever ridden by The Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1929, Garner said, "I have ridden a number of fast horses - Polydor, Miss Joy, Iron Mask, Pan Zaretta, Rockminster and others. But Blue Larkspur, I'm certain, is the best horse I ever rode over a distance of ground."