One of America’s leading jockeys for nearly twenty years, Willie Harmatz won more than 1,800 races between 1953 and 1971. He won in excess of $10 million in purses, riding such great horses as Silky Sullivan and Round Table.

The 5', 108-pound Harmatz captured the Preakness aboard Royal Orbit in 1959 and rode in the Triple Crown’s Kentucky Derby four times and the Belmont Stakes. He won 12 races worth
$100,000 or more and once rode six winners on the same day, April 23, 1954, at Bay Meadows.

Willie received the Jockey’s Guild Meritorious Award in 1957 and the
George Woolf Sportsmanship Award in 1958.

In 1968, Harmatz co-founded the Jockey’s Association and was its executive director from 1972 to 1978.