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Ronald J. Franklin

Retired Jockey

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Baltimore, MD USA

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Ronnie grew up in a suburb of Baltimore, MD.

Ronnie attended Patapsco High School. High school did not hold his interests, so he decided to leave high school prior to finishing.

Ronnie grew up in a close knit community. Ronnie was not afraid to try anything once and was always willing to try something new. He had decided early on what he did not want for himself, he said he did not want “no windows,” when it came to a career. So he left his childhood friends behind and headed off looking for a new adventure.

He decided to look for employment at a local race track in Maryland because he had decided he wanted to become a jockey.

He was soon hired by Richard Delp (brother of Grover (Bud) Delp.) This was the beginning of his journey to becoming a jockey, but first he had to learn his way around the track, by performing various duties around the track such as stable hand, hotwalker, etc.

Ronnie went to work for Grover (Bud) Delp when he was 16 years old. Doing various jobs around the track.

Bud sent Ronnie to the Middleburg Training Center for four months to learn to ride.

Ronnie had about two years of preparation before he actually started riding between learning his way around the track and learning to ride.

On February 4, 1978 Ronnie rode his very first mount – Pioneer Patty to a first place finish at Bowie Race Course. Then his second career win was aboard Deficit. His first big stakes win was aboard Tiger Castle at Pimlico Race Course.

Ronnie rode mainly for Bud Delp and he also rode many of the horses for Hawksworth Farm (owner of Spectacular Bid.)

Ronnie was a leading winning jockey and even wins the Eclipse Award for top apprentice jockey.

Ronnie was allowed to ride Spectacular Bid who was a two year old. Ronnie rode aboard most of Spectacular Bid’s two year old races. Ronnie was still learning his craft as he was riding Spectacular Bid.

While riding Spectacular Bid Ronnie won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes in 1979. He came in third during the Belmont Stakes and this race continues to be talked about due to the ride Ronnie gave the Bid. There were a few factors that interfered with Spectacular Bid's race that day, including the fact that he had stepped on a safety pin the morning of the race.

After the Belmont Stakes, Ronnie was dealing with a lot of stress which was causing problems in his personal life, so to relieve some of the pressure on him, it was decided that Bill Shoemaker would ride Spectacular Bid in all future races. This gave Ronnie time to regroup and took some of the pressure off the young rider.

Ronnie went back to riding in Maryland, Delaware and Louisiana where he continued to work for Bud Delp and ride for Hawksworth Farm.

Ronnie continued to ride for several years until he retired from racing.

He continues to work in the horse racing industry; doing a job that he loves.

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