Daniel A. Maher

Danny Maher
Circa 1900
Occupation	Jockey
Born	1881 Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	November 9, 1916
Career wins	USA: 1,771 Britain: 1,421
Major racing wins, honours and awards
Major racing wins
In the United States: Champagne Stakes (1898) Gazelle Handicap (1899) Brooklyn Handicap (1899) Toboggan Handicap (1899) Tremont Stakes (1899-1900) Metropolitan Handicap (1900) Carter Handicap (1900) Ladies Handicap (1900) In the United Kingdom: Chester Cup (1901) Imperial Produce Stakes (1901) Gimcrack Stakes (1902) Eclipse Stakes (1902, 1904, 1906, 1909, 1910) Ascot Gold Cup (1906, 1910) Richmond Stakes (1908) Middle Park Plate (1908) Dewhurst Plate (1908) Champion Stakes (1909) St. James's Palace Stakes (1912) British Classic Race wins: 1,000 Guineas (1901) St. Leger Stakes (1903, 1909) Epsom Derby (1903, 1905, 1906) Epsom Oaks (1906) 2,000 Guineas (1910, 1912)
Racing awards
British flat racing Champion Jockey (1908, 1913)
Honours
United States' Racing Hall of Fame (1955)
Significant horses
Rock Sand, Cicero, Spearmint, Bayardo Tracery, Pretty Polly, Ard Patrick

Daniel Aloysius Maher (1881 in Hartford, Connecticut – November 9, 1916, London, England) was an American Hall of Fame jockey who also became a Champion jockey in Great Britain.

U.S. Riding Career

Danny Maher commenced his career at the age of 14, weighing 65 pounds. He served his apprenticeship under Bill Daly, a well known trainer of jockeys. Three years later, in 1898, he topped America’s jockey's list. Maher was best known in the United States for winning the Metropolitan Handicap on Ethelbert (1900), the Brooklyn Handicap and Toboggan Handicap on Banaster (1899), the Champagne Stakes on Lothario (1898), and the Ladies Handicap on Oneck Queen (1900). Danny Maher was America's leading jockey in 1898.

Anti-gambling sentiment and restrictions on racing led Maher and other jockeys to leave America for Europe where they quickly made a mark on European racing.

English Riding Career

In England, Maher won 1,421 races with 25 percent of his mounts. He won his first English Classic on Aida in the 1901 1,000 Guineas and later that year won the Chester Cup on the colt David Garrick, owned by American Pierre Lorillard IV. In 1903, Maher won two-thirds of England's Triple Crown with Rock Sand. He also won the Epsom Derby three times (1903, 1905, 1906), five Eclipse Stakes (1902, 1904, 1906, 1909, 1910), and was a two-time winner of the Ascot Gold Cup (1906, 1909).

He was Britain's leading jockey in 1908 and 1913, the year he obtained British citizenship.

Maher died at the age of 35 of consumption. He is buried in Paddington Cemetery, Mill Hill, London, England.

In 1955, Maher was one of the inaugural inductees in the United States' Racing Hall of Fame.

Career at a Glance

U.S. Riding Career: 1895-1900
Number of Mounts: 6,781
Number of Winners: 1,771
Winning Percentage: 26.1 percent

British Riding Career: 1900-1915
Number of Mounts: 5,684 est.
Number of Winners: 1,421
Winning Percentage: 25 percent

External sources

• Daniel A. Maher at the British National Horseracing Museum
• Eclipse Stakes winners
• Daniel A. Maher at the United States' Racing Hall of Fame