Johnny Sellers

Horseracing personalities infobox
name = Johnny Sellers


caption = Johnny Sellers, 1961
occupation = Jockey
birthplace = Los Angeles, California, United States
birth date = July 31, 1937
death date =
career wins = Not found
race = Washington Park Handicap (1958, 1960)
American Derby (1960)
Arlington Classic (1960)
Remsen Stakes (1960)
United Nations Handicap (1960)
Florida Derby (1961)
Jerome Handicap (1961)
Stars and Stripes Handicap (1961)
Alabama Stakes (1962)
Monmouth Oaks (1962)
Carter Handicap (1962)
Saratoga Special Stakes (1962)
Test Stakes (1962)
Whitney Handicap (1962)
Adirondack Stakes (1963)
Diana Handicap (1963)
Excelsior Breeders’ Cup Handicap (1964)
Brooklyn Handicap (1965)
Ladies Handicap (1965)
Suburban Handicap (1965)
Travers Stakes (1965)
Kentucky Oaks (1967)
Blue Grass Stakes (1967)
Hollywood Derby (1967)
Frank E. Kilroe Mile (1968, 1971)
San Gorgonio Handicap (1968)
Highlander Handicap (1969)
San Juan Capistrano Handicap (1969)
San Luis Obispo Handicap (1968, 1971)
San Pasqual Handicap (1968)
Del Mar Handicap (1970)
Strub Stakes (1971, 1973)
Del Mar Oaks (1972)
El Encino Stakes (1972)
San Felipe Stakes (1972)

American Classic Race wins:
Kentucky Derby (1961)
Preakness Stakes (1961)
Belmont Stakes (1965)

International race wins:
Canadian International Stakes (1958)
Woodbine Oaks Stakes (1969)
awards = United States Champion Jockey by wins (1961)
George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award (1969)
honours = United States' Racing Hall of Fame (2007)
horses = T. V. Lark, Carry Back, Hail To All, Cool Reception
updated = April 1, 2007

Johnny Sellers (born July 31, 1937) is a retired American jockey. Born in Los Angeles, but raised in Oklahoma, he began his professional career in 1955 and between 1959 and 1968 rode in six Kentucky Derbys. He won the prestigious race aboard Carry Back in 1961 then riding the colt to victory in the Preakness Stakes. That same year, he won eight straight races, equaling an American record set in 1951, and ended the year as the United States Champion Jockey by wins. He made the August 28, 1961 cover of Sports Illustrated magazine.

In 1958, Sellers rode Jack Ketch to victory in the Canadian International Stakes and in 1965 he won the Belmont Stakes aboard Hail To All. In 1969 he was voted the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award.

Retired in 1997, Sellers lives in Hallandale, Florida, two blocks from Gulfstream Park racetrack. He remains involved in the racing industry as a bloodstock agent. In 1999, he was in the news after recovering his Kentucky Derby trophy. Stolen from his Monrovia, California home in 1978, twenty-one years later a friend notified him that the engraved sterling silver trophy was being offered for sale on eBay.

In 2007, Johnny Sellers was elected to the United States' Racing Hall of Fame.

References

* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,827756,00.html TIME magazine, March 24, 1961]