| BIOGRAPHY |
Most of the stories so far have been about a teenager achieving their childhood dream about becoming a jockey. This story is a little different, Joan O'Shea didn't even come to the States till she was in her late twenties and wouldn't get her first mount till she was forty three, although, she might want to forget that one!
At Aqueduct Race Track on April 19, 1969 O'Shea made her first start, her and her mount Rescue Squad, both needed to be rescued as they finished twenty six length's behind the winner. After a few races in the states, O'Shea headed north of the border and notched her first win at Blue Bonnets in Montreal. On August 9, 1970 she piloted Kalamity Kate to victory, in what would be one of her class of 1969 firsts.
O'Shea would become the first woman to ride in Ontario, Canada at Woodbine Race Track, and the first winner with a score at the defunct Greenwood Track in Toronto. I assume her win at Blue Bonnets would achieve the same result in Quebec. In 1971 O'Shea suffered a broken leg in Canada, her workload seemed to lighten after that and she eventually returned to the States.
O'Shea, didn't race much in 1972 and there's no sign she raced in 1973. She returned in 1974 and ended her career and almost her life at Suffolk Downs in 1976. On February 11, 1967 O'Shea who was now 51 pulled her horse up after a race and was injured when her head snapped back in a freak accident. She survived the incident, but looks like she called it a career after that.
Couldn't find a program with Joan O'Shea in the archives, can anybody help out with that?
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| Blue Bonnets First Win August 9, 1970 | ||
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