Jockey Anthony Black, who has been based at Delaware Valley racetracks for more than four decades, retired after winning his 5,200th race March 18 at Parx Racing in Pennsylvania.
Black, who has won numerous riding titles, took the last race on the program aboard Smart Tori in a $16,000 claiming race. The 6-year-old mare by Tenpins is owned by Black's son, Anthony, and trained by Richard Vega.
Black, who has been active in jockey-related issues over the years, said he planned to call it quits after getting his 5,200th victory. The 61-year-old has been riding sparingly in recent years at Parx.
The New Jersey resident won his first race in June 1970 at Liberty Bell Park in Philadelphia aboard the 6-year-old horse Stand By Me, who paid $106.40 to win. Smart Tori, his final winner, paid $4.40 to win as the favorite.
Liberty Bell ended Thoroughbred racing in 1974 when Parx, then called Keystone Race Track, opened for business about two miles away. Black regularly rode at Liberty Bell and Keystone, and Atlantic City Race Course and Garden State Park in New Jersey.
Black was the regular rider of the mare My Juliet, the champion sprinter of 1976 who won 17 stakes, six of them graded, from 1975-77 for owner George Weasel Jr. and trainer Eugene Euster. My Juliet was stabled at Keystone.
