Joe Notter

Who was Joe Notter?

Joseph A. Notter was an American Hall of Fame jockey and winner of two of the American Classic Races.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Joe Notter rode prominently in the first decades of the 20th century. Statistics from his racing career as a jockey are limited but it is known that he was working as a stable boy at age ten and was riding and winning at age thirteen. He developed a reputation as a good handler of young horses and rode winners in several important stakes races for two-year-old horses including three wins in the important Hopeful Stakes.

During his career, Joe Notter rode U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductees Maskette and Colin for owner James R. Keene plus Regret and Whisk Broom II for Harry Payne Whitney. 1908 would be Notter's most successful earnings year when he won purses totalling $464,322 which smashed the existing record and remained unmatched for another fifteen years. Aboard Colin in the 1908 Belmont Stakes, Notter misjudged the finish line and eased the horse up. Fortunately he was six-lengths in front and still won by a head over the onrushing Fair Play. In the 1957 Kentucky Derby, jockey Bill Shoemaker would make the same mistake with Gallant Man and lose the race.