A GENTLEMAN AND A CHAMPION
Alfred P. “Paddy” Smithwick was one of America’s greatest steeplechase riders and a beloved figure in the sport
By Brien Bouyea
Admired for his rare abilities on horseback and his gallant demeanor, Alfred P. “Paddy” Smithwick carved out a brilliant career as a steeplechase jockey that placed him among the all-time elite in his profession.
Smithwick’s lasting legacy of excellence is annually honored by the New York Racing Association with the Grade 1 A. P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase Stakes, which will be contested today at Saratoga Race Course (Race 1, 12:50 p.m. post). This year’s renewal marks the 24th edition of the race.
Born in Baltimore on Feb. 11, 1927, Smithwick was the son of an Irish immigrant horseman. His younger brother, Daniel M. “Mikey” Smithwick became one of steeplechase racing’s most accomplished trainers and teamed with Paddy to form arguably the most prolific rider-trainer team in the sport’s history.
Paddy Smithwick began his career as an amateur in 1945 at the age of 18. He quickly climbed into the professional ranks in 1946. In 1947, he finished 10th in the National Steeplechase and Hunt standings, winning seven races that year. He won 18 races from 128 rides in 1950, when he topped the rider standings for the first time, beating his close friend and rival Frank “Dooley” Adams.
“He was the best I ever rode against,” Hall of Fame member Adams said of Smithwick.
Smithwick went on to lead all steeplechase riders in wins four more times (1956, 1957, 1958, 1962) and dominated in the sport’s biggest races. He won nearly every major jump race in America multiple times. Smithwick won the Meadowbrook Handicap and
Georgetown Handicap six times each, the Beverwyck Handicap and International Handicap five times each, the Temple Gwathmey four times, and the American Grand National and New York Turf Writers Cup three times each.
Of the many great horses he piloted, Smithwick considered Hall of Famer Neji to be the best. He rode the three-time champion to two Grand National wins, including the 1958 edition under a record 173 pounds.
Smithwick also rode Hall of Famer Bon Nouvel and standout King Commander.
Smithwick was forced to retire in 1966 at the age of 39 because of injuries sustained in a frightening fall at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. He was paralyzed with a broken neck for eight weeks and doctors weren’t sure he would survive, but Smithwick recovered and transitioned to becoming a trainer.
“If a popularity poll were taken among steeplechase riders, the name of Alfred Patrick Smithwick would lead the list,” said an article in the 1958 edition of American Steeplechasing. “Quiet, unassuming, but a man with very articulate ideas about horses and riding, he is the personification of a gentleman, a race rider and a great credit to the sport.”
The article added Smithwick had received only one fine in all his years of riding and his “good sense and spirit of fair play” kept him out of trouble.
With 398 career wins in steeplechase races, Smithwick ranks second in the all-time standings to Hall of Famer Joe Aitcheson. Smithwick was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973. Only a few months later he died from cancer at the age of 46.
The A. P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase was inaugurated in 1980 and achieved stakes status in 1996. It has been run as a Grade 1 event since 2012.
Brien Bouyea is the Hall of Fame and Communications Director at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and a former Saratogian sports editor. He is the author of two books, including “The Travers: 150 Years of Saratoga’s Greatest Race,” available at www.traversbook.com.