Tommy Smith (jockey)

Crompton Smith better known as Tommy Smith (16 October 1937 in Middleberg, Virginia – 5 March 2013 in Upperco, Maryland) was an American jockey.^[1][2] He is best remembered as the first American jockey to win the prestigious Grand National steeplechase race while riding a horse born and trained in the United States.^[1] He accomplished the feat in 1965 with Jay Trump. A few months later, the same horse-jockey combination finished third in another important race: the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris. Other notable wins by the pair include three victories in the Maryland Hunt Cup (1963, 1964, and 1966).^[2] In 1965, Smith appeared on the April 26 episode of the CBS game show To Tell the Truth.^[3] Despite considerable success, Smith quit jockeying in 1966 and began a career in the health-care industry.^[1] After his retirement in 1995, he moved to Maryland and started training thoroughbreds.^[2] A leisure riding accident in 2001 left him a quadriplegic.^[1] He died in 2013.^[1]