Frank Robinson

Who was Frank Robinson?

Frank Robinson was an American Champion Thoroughbred horse racing jockey.

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, riding in the pre U.S. Triple Crown era, Frank Robinson competed at racetracks in New York State, Maryland, Kentucky, Louisiana, and in Ontario and Quebec in Canada as well as at Oriental Park Racetrack in Havana, Cuba.

Given his first opportunity to ride by Edward Trotter, owner of a racing stable in Montreal, Canada, in his apprentice year, Frank Robinson won the first five races at the Dorval Racetrack in Montreal then soon after won four of the six races on an afternoon card at Blue Bonnets Raceway. In what the New York Times described as a phenomenal performance, in 1916 Frank Robinson was the leading jockey in the United States with 178 wins as well as the leading jockey in Canada with 129 wins. In 1917 he was second to Willie Crump in wins but led all American jockeys in earnings with $148,057. On April 3, 1917 Robinson won four races on a single card at Bowie Race Track in Bowie, Maryland. For American-born trainer Barry Littlefield and the preeminent owner in Canada, distiller, Joseph E. Seagram, in 1917 Frank Robinson won Canada's most prestigious race, the King's Plate. That same year he rode future Hall of Fame inductee Old Rosebud to victory in the Queens County Handicap at New York's Aqueduct Racetrack.