Simms, Willie

(born January 16, 1870, near Augusta, Georgia, U.S.—died February 26, 1927, Asbury, New Jersey) one of only two African American jockeys (the other is Isaac Burns Murphy) to have been elected to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Simms began racing in the North in 1887 and became the most successful rider to adopt the short stirrup since the antebellum slave and rider Abe Hawkins. Now ubiquitous, the short stirrup lifts the rider over the horse's withers (the ridge between the horse's shoulder bones), which allows the animal better balance. In 1895 Simms became the first American jockey to win in England, where sportswriters derisively referred to him as a “monkey on a stick.” The short stirrup earned more esteem after the white American jockey Tod Sloan used it to win English races in 1897, and it soon came to be known as the “American seat.”

Simms won the Belmont Stakes in 1893 and 1894, the Kentucky Derby in 1896 and 1898, and the Preakness Stakes in 1898; he is the only African American to have won all of the Triple Crown classics. Simms was the leading American jockey (on the basis of number of wins) in 1893 and 1894. He retired in 1901 with one of the best lifetime winning percentages in the sport, 24.8.