Peterson trained after hanging up his tack.
Melvin Peterson, whose greatest riding success came at Santa Anita, died Jan. 3 in Phoenix, Arizona. He was 83.Raised on a farm in Utah, Peterson won the 1947 Santa Anita Handicap on South American import Olhaverry and missed winning the 1945 running aboard Texas Sandman by a head. Peterson also rode in two Kentucky Derbys. He finished fourth on Billings in Citation's 1948 Derby score and was unplaced on Ky. Colonel in the Derby the following year.
