Job Dean Jessop

Who was Job Dean Jessop?

Job Dean Jessop was an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey.

Born in Utah, Job Jessop was just eighteen years old when on August 9, 1944 as an apprentice jockey he won six races in one program at Ellis Park Racecourse in Henderson, Kentucky. The following year, he won more races than any other jockey in the United States finishing the year with 290 victories, 103 more than his closest rival. In 1946 he was the leading jockey in America, finishing ahead of future Hall of Fame inductees Ted Atkinson and Eddie Arcaro.

Of Jessop's four mounts in the Kentucky Derby, his best result was two third-place finishes. In 1946 he was third on Hampden behind eventual Triple Crown winner, Assault. Guiding the great Gallorette, he and she won the Queens County Handicap against males in 1947. In 1950 he won the Ashland Stakes and the following year rode Ruhe to victory in the Blue Grass Stakes then finished third with the colt in that year's Derby. Among his other victories, Jessop rode in Vancouver, British Columbia, winning the 1961 B.C. Oaks with the filly, Be Famous. He was the regular rider of Triplicate.

Jessop retired from in 1970 and settled in Texas where for a short time he was involved with training horses. He had three sons: Richard, Jeffery, and Job Jr. He died in 2001 in Boerne in Kendall County, Texas.