Don Pierce, who found celebrity as a big-money rider on the tough Southern California circuit of the 1960s and 1970s, died Oct. 5 in Denton, Texas, following a lengthy battle with cancer. The Hall of Fame jockey was 89.
A native of Clebit, Okla., Pierce grew up in a blue-collar home with six children. He started out young, helping earn money for the family by shining shoes and then got steered toward the bush tracks of Oklahoma because of his size. Racing in mostly match races, he earned $5 if he won.
Pierce's father worked in the logging industry that eventually took the family to the Northwest. There, Pierce continued riding at minor tracks in Washington, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. When he was 17, he made his way to Ruidoso Downs Race Track in 1954 where he made his first start at a track with pari-mutuel wagering. He rode Supplier on opening day and won.
From New Mexico, Pierce made his way to California, where he became one of the most successful jockeys in the country, competing day to day against elite riders such as Bill Shoemaker, Eddie Arcaro, and Johnny Longden and then later with Laffit Pincay Jr., Chris McCarron, Eddie Delahoussaye, Fernando Toro, and Darrel McHargue.
During an interview on Hall of Fame Jockeys Day in 2016 at Keeneland, Pierce recalled Silky Sullivan as one of the most important horses of his distinguished career.
"Not the best horse I ever rode, but he put me on the road to fame," Pierce said of the stakes winner who thrilled fans with his come-from-behind running style. "He got a million dollars worth of publicity, and he took me along with him."
Pierce quickly entered the limelight with multiple wins in Southern California's most important races. His record includes four wins in the Santa Anita Handicap (1960, 1962, 1965, 1972), five consecutive wins in the Los Angeles Handicap (1969-73), five wins in the Hollywood Oaks (1966, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1980), five in the Santa Anita Oaks (1960, 1965-66, 1970, 1983), and the Santa Anita Derby twice in 1964 and 1979. He also won the Del Mar Derby, Del Mar Oaks, Santa Monica Handicap, Santa Ana Handicap, and Santa Margarita Handicap three times apiece.
Pierce found success outside California as well, with a riding title at Belmont Park and victories at Saratoga Race Course in top races such as the Hopeful Stakes and Jim Dandy Stakes. Pierce was presented the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1967, and led all North American jockeys with 32 stakes wins in 1973.
"He was a natural athlete all the way around," said his daughter Connie Markum. "He was good at everything he did whether it was golf, swimming, or skiing on water and snow. And he was very competitive. We had one of those octagon-shaped pool tables, and he beat us constantly. He never gave an inch."
Pierce was every bit as personable as he was competitive, Markum added.
"He just had a really good sense of humor, and he and Shoe were like little boys," she said, referring to the close friendship Pierce developed with Bill Shoemaker. "They loved the constant pranks. I always felt sorry for Fernando Toro because he was such a nice, quiet guy, and they would pull stuff on him all the time."
Del Mar was always Pierce's favorite track because the laid-back summer meet felt more like a vacation.
"We owned a ranch near Escondido but still rented a house at Del Mar during the summer," Markum said. "Dad and Shoe would golf before they had to go to the jock's room, and I remember sack races and chasing rabbits through the infield, or the parties they'd have for the jockeys' and trainers' kids."
Pierce retired from race riding in 1985. After 30 years in the saddle, Pierce had 3,546 wins—351 of them stakes—from 28,740 mounts, with purse earnings of $39,018,422.
"He called me and he said, 'Well, I did it,'" Markum recalled. "I said, 'So what'd you do? Now what'd you do?' He said he went to put on his boots for a workout and then just turned around and took them back off. 'No, that's it. I'm done.'"
Pierce would be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2010.
Pierce said he felt fortunate to retire in good health and continue to be active doing the things he loved to do. He had a go at training from 1985-95, saddling 37 winners and earning $748,635 in purses, then started working as a clocker at Del Mar. He lived in Oceanside, Calif., until about a year ago, when his health required him to be closer to family. He moved to an assisted living facility in Denton where he quickly won the hearts of the staff.
"There's a group of seven houses together here and, in the last several days, everybody working here came by to say goodbye to him," Markum said. "They loved his personality, and he was always joking around with them. It was really neat to see."
Pierce appreciated, too, that many people remembered his talents on the racetrack.
"More than 10 years after he retired, I can remember trying to get through a dinner without someone asking for his autograph—famous people. When he was riding, you could not go to Del Mar back then without running into half of Hollywood.
"He really loved riding. It was everything to him, and even toward the end up until he struggled to talk, he was talking about it. You know, missing it."
Besides Markum, Pierce is survived by sons Don Pierce Jr. and Edward Pierce, both in California; five grandchildren and one great-grandchild; and a brother, Larry Pierce, who also rode as a jockey in the Northwest.
