Thomas H. Burns

Biography

In the first of his two successive years (1898, 1899) as North America’s leading rider in number of winners, Tommy Burns won with 277 of 973 mounts, a 28-percent rate that was not surpassed by a leading races-won rider until Hall of Famer Bill Shoemaker won with 29 percent of his mounts in 1953.

A native of Cedar Springs, Ontario, Canada, Burns rode his first winner at the track in Hamilton, Ontario, at age 16. Three years later, he was among the elite jockeys, challenging the likes of Hall of Famers Tod Sloan and Danny Maher on the tough Eastern circuit.

In 1904, Burns rode Hall of Famer Broomstick to an American record of 2:02⅘ in the 1¼-mile Brighton Beach Handicap. The record stood until broken by Broomstick's son, Hall of Famer Whisk Broom II, in the 1913 Suburban. Burns also won the Travers Stakes with Broomstick, the Metropolitan Handicap with Gunfire, the Tennessee Derby with Lieber Karl and Lady Navarre, the St. Louis Derby with Sam Phillips, the Second Special with Hall of Famer Imp, the Brooklyn Handicap with Delhi, the Saratoga Handicap and Twin City Handicap with Caughnawaga, and the Kentucky Oaks with White Frost.  

When anti-gambling legislation shut down racing in New York in 1911 and 1912, Burns decided to ride overseas. He found considerable success in both France and Germany, including wins in several steeplechase events.

Burns returned to the United States at the end of the 1913 European season to rest before a planned return to Germany in 1914. Burns, however, was struck and killed by a train near Sheepshead Bay in New York on Nov. 15, 1913. He was 34, and at the time considered one of the best riders in the world.

Overall, Burns won 1,333 races. 

Achievements

North America's leading rider in wins — 1898, 1899

Other Highlights

Won the Tennessee Derby  — 1898, 1906
Won the Manhattan Handicap — 1900, 1903
Won the Long Island Handicap — 1901, 1905
Won the Kentucky Oaks — 1897
Won the Travers Stakes — 1904
Won the Brooklyn Handicap — 1905