Charlie Davis, the longtime Ocala resident and exercise rider of the famed Triple Crown winner Secretariat, died Wednesday. He was 78.
Always eager to talk of his days aboard the enormously popular colt, the amiable Davis became well-known for representing the sport and the era that boasted Secretariat as the greatest horse that ever competed on an oval track.
Secretariat is one of only 12 thoroughbreds that won each leg of the Triple Crown. That included the 1973 Belmont Stakes, which he won by an incomprehensible 31 lengths and in 2 minutes and 24 seconds a time that still stands as the fastest ever raced on a 1-1/2 mile race on dirt.
In a 2010 Star-Banner interview, Davis reminisced about his riding days. Davis smiled during the interview, and his eyes widened at the memories Secretariat could still evoke. His hands grasped imaginary reins and the body that had succumbed to the stiffness of age became momentarily supple.
This is from my heart, he said, tapping his chest as if speaking of the horse was sacred and not to be taken lightly. We didnt make Secretariat. Secretariat made us.
He wasnt the 747, he wasnt the DC-10. He was the Concorde, he said. (And) I wasnt the pilot. I was the co-pilot. I was just along for the ride.
Katina Davis, one of his surviving daughters, said Friday that her father was a humble man who wanted Secretariats legend to remain in the limelight rather than attention for himself.
The most fulfilling thing for him would be Secretariat events. It was his craft, she said. He really didnt have a lot of other activities in his life. It was always about the next event.
She said her father never bragged about himself and his relationship to the famous horse, and that it was not until she was a teenager that she learned on her own about the full measure of the horse and her fathers role in the saga.
Even outside of Secretariat, he would give you the shirt off of his back, she said. He was always pleasant, very fun-loving. He would never get mad.
Im very proud of my dad, she said.
Charlie Davis was born Feb. 2, 1940, in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He was the oldest of 11 children. His father was a farmhand and sharecropper.
Davis dropped out of school after the fifth grade. By then he had already been cutting classes to watch the farms thoroughbreds train and to mimic the exercise riders.
With the help of his father, he convinced the farms owner, Eddie OBrient, to allow him to work as an exercise boy and gallop horses around the track. He later went to New Jersey to work for one of the farms trainers
He eventually went to work for legendary trainer Lucien Laurin. Along with Secretariat, Davis would also exercise some of the greatest horses of the 1960s and 1970s, including the champion filly Quill, Belmont Stakes winner Amberoid, and champion colt Riva Ridge. He continued exercising horses until 1981, when he was thrown off a horse and suffered a career-ending back injury.
Tammy Gantt, associate vice president/member services and events for the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders & Owners Association in Ocala, knew Davis.
Its an amazing feat to be able to say you were on the (greatest) horse, she said.
He was such a legend, she said of Davis. When he showed up to our FTBOA Horse of the Year Gala, he had the biggest smile... and people just lit up. It was like he was the biggest celebrity. I really feel Charlies passing has left a hole that cannot be refilled. He was a legendary person with a big heart. It gives me goosebumps to have known someone who rode on the back of Secretariat.
Meadow Farm, which owned Secretariat, had a syndication deal with investors that did not allow Secretariat to race beyond 3 years old. He was required to go to stud.
Davis wanted him to race another year.
He said he never saw Secretariat at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, where the horse lived. He said he did not want to see the horse anywhere except on a track.
In the fall of 1989, Secretariat got laminitis, which is a painful and often incurable hoof disease. He did not improve and was euthanized on Oct. 4 of that year, at the age of 19.
Ron Turcotte, the Hall of Fame jockey who rode both Riva Ridge and Secretariat, told BloodHorse news magazine that Davis passing was a loss to the industry and Secretariats legend.
Charlie was a great friend to me personally and a great friend to the sport, Turcotte said. He and (Secretariat groom) Eddie (Sweat) knew Secretariat better than any of us, and Charlie became a walking history book about those days. He was a wonderful exercise rider with a true horsemans touch, and the achievements of both Riva Ridge and Secretariat were a result of Charlies work with them.
Davis is survived by his wife of 51 years, Caroline, as well as his children Katina Davis of North Carolina; Darrell Davis, Michael Davis, and Sharon Davis, all of Ocala; Jacqueline Davis of South Carolina; Markeal Davis of South Carolina; and Ployce Davis of Colorado.
The family created a GoFundMe campaign (www.gofundme.com/charliedavis1973) to help pay for his medical bills and funeral arrangements.
Reach Fred Hiers at [email protected] and 352-397-5914.
Charlie Davis, the longtime Ocala resident and exercise rider of the famed Triple Crown winner Secretariat, died Wednesday. He was 78.
Always eager to talk of his days aboard the enormously popular colt, the amiable Davis became well-known for representing the sport and the era that boasted Secretariat as the greatest horse that ever competed on an oval track.
Secretariat is one of only 12 thoroughbreds that won each leg of the Triple Crown. That included the 1973 Belmont Stakes, which he won by an incomprehensible 31 lengths and in 2 minutes and 24 seconds a time that still stands as the fastest ever raced on a 1-1/2 mile race on dirt.
In a 2010 Star-Banner interview, Davis reminisced about his riding days. Davis smiled during the interview, and his eyes widened at the memories Secretariat could still evoke. His hands grasped imaginary reins and the body that had succumbed to the stiffness of age became momentarily supple.
This is from my heart, he said, tapping his chest as if speaking of the horse was sacred and not to be taken lightly. We didnt make Secretariat. Secretariat made us.
He wasnt the 747, he wasnt the DC-10. He was the Concorde, he said. (And) I wasnt the pilot. I was the co-pilot. I was just along for the ride.
Katina Davis, one of his surviving daughters, said Friday that her father was a humble man who wanted Secretariats legend to remain in the limelight rather than attention for himself.
The most fulfilling thing for him would be Secretariat events. It was his craft, she said. He really didnt have a lot of other activities in his life. It was always about the next event.
She said her father never bragged about himself and his relationship to the famous horse, and that it was not until she was a teenager that she learned on her own about the full measure of the horse and her fathers role in the saga.
Even outside of Secretariat, he would give you the shirt off of his back, she said. He was always pleasant, very fun-loving. He would never get mad.
Im very proud of my dad, she said.
Charlie Davis was born Feb. 2, 1940, in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He was the oldest of 11 children. His father was a farmhand and sharecropper.
Davis dropped out of school after the fifth grade. By then he had already been cutting classes to watch the farms thoroughbreds train and to mimic the exercise riders.
With the help of his father, he convinced the farms owner, Eddie OBrient, to allow him to work as an exercise boy and gallop horses around the track. He later went to New Jersey to work for one of the farms trainers
He eventually went to work for legendary trainer Lucien Laurin. Along with Secretariat, Davis would also exercise some of the greatest horses of the 1960s and 1970s, including the champion filly Quill, Belmont Stakes winner Amberoid, and champion colt Riva Ridge. He continued exercising horses until 1981, when he was thrown off a horse and suffered a career-ending back injury.
Tammy Gantt, associate vice president/member services and events for the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders & Owners Association in Ocala, knew Davis.
Its an amazing feat to be able to say you were on the (greatest) horse, she said.
He was such a legend, she said of Davis. When he showed up to our FTBOA Horse of the Year Gala, he had the biggest smile... and people just lit up. It was like he was the biggest celebrity. I really feel Charlies passing has left a hole that cannot be refilled. He was a legendary person with a big heart. It gives me goosebumps to have known someone who rode on the back of Secretariat.
Meadow Farm, which owned Secretariat, had a syndication deal with investors that did not allow Secretariat to race beyond 3 years old. He was required to go to stud.
Davis wanted him to race another year.
He said he never saw Secretariat at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, where the horse lived. He said he did not want to see the horse anywhere except on a track.
In the fall of 1989, Secretariat got laminitis, which is a painful and often incurable hoof disease. He did not improve and was euthanized on Oct. 4 of that year, at the age of 19.
Ron Turcotte, the Hall of Fame jockey who rode both Riva Ridge and Secretariat, told BloodHorse news magazine that Davis passing was a loss to the industry and Secretariats legend.
Charlie was a great friend to me personally and a great friend to the sport, Turcotte said. He and (Secretariat groom) Eddie (Sweat) knew Secretariat better than any of us, and Charlie became a walking history book about those days. He was a wonderful exercise rider with a true horsemans touch, and the achievements of both Riva Ridge and Secretariat were a result of Charlies work with them.
Davis is survived by his wife of 51 years, Caroline, as well as his children Katina Davis of North Carolina; Darrell Davis, Michael Davis, and Sharon Davis, all of Ocala; Jacqueline Davis of South Carolina; Markeal Davis of South Carolina; and Ployce Davis of Colorado.
The family created a GoFundMe campaign (www.gofundme.com/charliedavis1973) to help pay for his medical bills and funeral arrangements.
Reach Fred Hiers at [email protected] and 352-397-5914.
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