Don Pierce

Biography

Don Pierce rose from humble racing roots to become one of the elite jockeys of the 1960s and ’70s. A native of Clebit, Oklahoma, Pierce began his career with a victory at New Mexico’s Ruidoso Downs in 1954 and went on to become one of the most accomplished riders on the West Coast.

Pierce rode for trainers such as Hall of Famers William Molter, Mesh Tenney, Robert Wheeler, and Charlie Whittingham, among others. In 1973, he led all North American jockeys with 32 stakes wins. Pierce became a force in Southern California, winning the circuit’s signature race for older horses, the Santa Anita Handicap, four times (1960, 1962, 1965, 1972).

Pierce also won five consecutive runnings of the Los Angeles Handicap (1969 through 1973) as well as five editions of both the Santa Anita Oaks (1960, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1983) and Hollywood Oaks (1966, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1980). He won the Del Mar Debutante (1959, 1969, 1971, 1973) and Hollywood Oaks (1968, 1969, 1973, 1978) four times each; the Del Mar Derby (1965, 1975, 1978), Del Mar Oaks (1973, 1974, 1977), Hollywood Derby (1969, 1975, 1979), Santa Ana Handicap (1969, 1973, 1976), Santa Margarita Handicap (1969, 1975, 1978), Santa Monica Handicap (1968, 1976, 1977), and Santa Ynez Stakes (1966, 1970, 1974) three times apiece; and the Santa Anita Derby with Hill Rise (1964) and Flying Paster (1979). 

Overall, Pierce won 99 stakes at Santa Anita winter-spring meetings, and 13 stakes at the track’s Oak Tree meetings, held in the fall. He also won 85 stakes at Hollywood Park and 54 at Del Mar, where he topped the jockey standings in 1966.

On sojourns to the East Coast, Pierce enjoyed plenty of success in New York. He won a riding title at Belmont Park (1962) and captured several of Saratoga’s most prestigious races, including the Hopeful (1962), Jim Dandy (1975), Sanford (1964), and Schuylerville (1965).

Among Pierce’s top mounts were Forceten, Flying Paster, Hill Rise, Kennedy Road, La Zanzara, Minstrel Miss, Modus Vivendi, Quack, Silky Sullivan, Taisez Vous, Triple Bend, and Princessnessian, with whom he defeated males in the 1968 Hollywood Gold Cup to cap a five-win day.

Pierce was presented the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1967. After 30 years in the saddle, Pierce retired with 3,546 wins — 351 of them stakes — from 28,740 mounts, with purse earnings of $39,018,422.

Following his riding career, Pierce spent some time as a trainer, saddling 37 winners and earning $748,635 in purses. He also worked as a clocker at Del Mar and as a jockey’s agent.