Racing finally claimed jockey Jesse Davidson.
Fearless on half-mile bullrings dotting small towns from Charles Town to Marlboro, Davidson suffered too many spills over a 31-year career. The final came on the last turn of a getaway race at Laurel when the grandstand doubled as an echo chamber for the few remaining railbirds looking to get even.
Davidson never quite overcame the 1988 fall that sent him into the rail. It caused him to lose a kidney and undergo four years of dialysis before receiving a transplant. He couldn’t return to racing, so Davidson raised two grandsons into jockeys, both on the same tracks where their ancestor led the nation with 319 victories in 1965 and won more than 200 races five times in seven years.
Davidson was buried on Tuesday in Martinsburg, W.Va., not far from Charles Town’s racetrack now known more for its slots than stallions. Complications from a hernia surgery proved too much for an immune system weakened by that kidney transplant.
Davidson’s funeral didn’t quietly pass, though. The racing community is its own world, families often marrying into other backstretch clans. They didn’t want Davidson’s final memory to be a stain from 1975.
It became known as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. A lone bettor wanted an $18 boxed triple on the final race at Bowie punched 38 times. Sharp mutual clerks spotted the $684 wager. They knew something was up.
The favorite finished 27 lengths back. It happens, but officials saw too many jockeys taking wide turns or holding their horses. Coupled with a $35,000 payoff, the scam was uncovered.
Davidson — along with jockeys Ben Feliciano, Luigi Gino and Ben Walsh — was convicted of fixing a sporting event. The quartet claimed they were simply betting on the race, which wasn’t illegal. Many racetrackers were willing to testify on the riders’ behalf. Many still don’t believe the foursome did anything wrong.
Walsh committed suicide rather than serve 4 1/2-months at a minimum-security prison. The three others needed a decade before they returned to racing. Feliciano and Gino became trainers, but Davidson spent four more years in the saddle, including the 1986 Kentucky Derby aboard Southern Appeal that led midway before fading to 13th.
Davidson won 3,035 races, including the 1969 filly Triple Crown aboard Shuvee. He turned grandsons Grant and Brandon Whitacre into daring riders, too.
“Every day after races we’d talk about it, he’d give pointers,” Grant Whitacre said. “It’s really hard for people to leave racing. He never left it.”
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com and Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
