Bill "The Shoe" Shoemaker
Jockey
August 19, 1931 - October 12, 2003
One of Horseracing's most beloved and winningest jockeys appeared at Fairmount Park in East St. Louis, Illinois on July 20th, 1987 in his Farewell appearance at Fairmount. It took about three years to complete this tour with the final race taking place at Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California on Sunday February 4, 1990.
Julie and I were among the first in line as the gates opened at 6:00 p.m that day at Fairmount Racetrack. Julie Scott was no stranger to Fairmount as a great fan of Horseracing. She showed me around the areas of interest in quick fashion. First race was scheduled for 7:00. Bill Shoemaker was up for the race. He would then meet with people in line to sign autographs. I was one of the first in line to be certain not to miss this great moment to have him sign The Tablecloth.
"Shoe, Shoe, Shoe" came the shouts from the race fans as "Willie, "The Shoe" mounted his horse but lost the race that evening. It didn't take too long before I was face to face with Bill Shoemaker. He was a happy person and smiled the whole time as he met with his fans. "Would you sign 'The Shoe' in your name?" I asked him. He smiled more and nodded yes as he began signing his autograph to the cloth. Julie snapped a couple of pictures of that which turned out to be quite outstanding. "What is this?" Bill asked. Then I briefly explained and gave him the list of people who had signed it. I didn't have an organized brochure at that time.
An historic day and moment for myself as well as Julie. We stayed for a couple of races as Julie wanted to get down a couple of bets. A great addition to The Tablecloth.