Bob Skelton

Horseracing personalities infobox
name = Bob Skelton


caption = "RJ - The Bob Skelton Story"
occupation = Jockey
birthplace = New Zealand
birth date = c.1934
death date =
career wins = 2230
race = Wellington Cup (1961, 1962, 1963)
Auckland Cup (1974, 1977)
Melbourne Cup (1976)
Easter Handicap (1977)
awards =
honours = New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame (2006)
horses = Grey Way, Van Der Hum, Great Sensation
updated = CURRENTTIME, CURRENTDAYNAME CURRENTMONTHNAME CURRENTDAY CURRENTYEAR (UTC)

Robert J. "Bob" Skelton (born c. 1934) was a top jockey in New Zealand and Australian Thoroughbred horse racing who competed from the 1950s through the 1980s. Among his many major race wins, Skelton rode Great Sensation to three victories in the Wellington Cup and won the Auckland Cup on Rose Mellay in 1974 and again in 1977 on Royal Cadenza. In 1976, he rode Van Der Hum to victory in Australia's most prestigious race, the Melbourne Cup and ten years later rode Rising Fear into second place in the 1986 Cup.

Skelton retired in the 1987-88 season. He was inducted in the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame in 2006 and in 2007 the Auckland Racing Club voted him as their 8th official "Legend of Ellerslie" where he won nine jockey premierships at Ellerslie Racecourse between 1955 and 1976.

References

* Ryan, Dennis. "RJ - The Bob Skelton Story" (1979) Rugby Press, Auckland ISBN 0959755365
* [http://www.thoroughbrednet.co.nz/racinghalloffame/inductees10.asp Bob Skelton profile at the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame]