caption updated birth_place race birth_date horses image article_title name occupation
jean cruguet at the 2014 belmont stakes march 28 , 2007 agen , lot-et-garonne , france united -lrb- preakness stakes -lrb- 1977 -rrb- belmont stakes -lrb- 1977 -rrb- 1968 futurity stakes -lrb- 1978 -rrb- washington , d.c. international stakes -rrb- -lrb- 1978 , 1993 -rrb- jerome handicap -lrb- 1979 -rrb- lawrence ladies handicap -lrb- 1979 -rrb- saranac handicap -lrb- 1979 -rrb- realization withers stakes -lrb- 1979 -rrb- blue grass stakes -lrb- 1983 stakes -rrb- tremont stakes -lrb- 1983 -rrb- coaching club american oaks -lrb- -lrb- 1984 -rrb- dwyer stakes -lrb- 1984 -rrb- knickerbocker handicap 1969 -lrb- 1985 , 1986 , 1988 , 1992 -rrb- matron , stakes -lrb- 1986 -rrb- 1970 states , 1975 , 1978 -rrb- metropolitan handicap -lrb- 1969 -rrb- triple toboggan handicap -lrb- 1969 -rrb- cowdin stakes -lrb- 1970 -rrb- crown laurel futurity -lrb- 1970 -rrb- manhattan handicap -lrb- 1974 -rrb- -lrb- stuyvesant handicap -lrb- 1974 -rrb- alabama stakes -lrb- 1975 , 1977 1983 -rrb- hopeful stakes -lrb- 1975 , 1976 -rrb- champagne -rrb- stakes -lrb- 1976 -rrb- mother goose stakes -lrb- 1976 , travers 1977 -rrb- flamingo stakes -lrb- 1977 -rrb- wood memorial stakes stakes -lrb- 1977 , 1984 -rrb- kentucky derby -lrb- 1977 -rrb- 8 march 1939 arts san , bold reason , seattle slew , mac diarmida and letters , hoist the flag , san jean cruguet 2014.jpg jean cruguet
 jean cruguet jockey
jean cruguet

jean cruguet -lrb- born march 8 , 1939 in agen , lot-et-garonne , france -rrb- is a french-american thoroughbred horse racing jockey who won the united states triple crown of thoroughbred racing .
at age five , jean cruguet was placed in an orphanage after his father abandoned the family and his mother was unable to cope .
from age ten to sixteen , he lived at a secondary school run by roman catholic priests where he says he was physically abused .
at age sixteen , a friend of his grandfather offered the diminutive cruguet work at a thoroughbred race track .
his fledgling career as a jockey was interrupted by mandatory military service and he served in the french army during the algerian war .
after being discharged from the army , cruguet returned to thoroughbred flat racing .
he replaced army-bound jockey yves saint-martin at the stable run by trainer francois mathet .
once saint-martin was discharged from the army , cruguet had to find new rides but met with only limited success .
after meeting his future wife denyse , a trainer and one of the pioneering woman in french racing , in 1965 , they decided to emigrate to the united states .
in florida , cruguet was hired to ride for horatio luro at hialeah park race track and began to achieve success in the ensuing years .
in 1969 , he won a major grade i race aboard arts and letters when he replaced braulio baeza due to another commitment , riding the future hall of fame colt to victory in the metropolitan handicap at belmont park .
in 2004 , jean cruguet said hoist the flag was the best horse he ever rode .
the 1970 u.s. champion two-year-old colt , ridden by cruguet in all his starts , went undefeated in his short career but in his three-year-old season was injured in march 1971 while preparing for the wood memorial stakes .
the career-ending injury denied the colt a chance to try for the triple crown .
cruguet and his wife returned to race in europe for the 1972 season , where he won group one races such as the prix vermeille and poule d'essai des pouliches in france , and the champion stakes in england .
he rode the champion san san in all her wins for trainer angel penna , sr. but missed being aboard the filly for her win in the prix de l'arc de triomphe when he was sidelined by injury as a result of a racing accident .
after finishing second in france 's jockey standings for 1972 , cruguet and his wife returned to the united states .
in 1976 , cruguet rode the two-year-old colt seattle slew to victory in the champagne stakes .
the following year , he and seattle slew won the wood memorial stakes and the flamingo stakes en route to winning the kentucky derby , preakness stakes , and the belmont stakes , thereby capturing american racing 's triple crown .
in a move still written about today , with 20 yards to go to the finish line in the belmont stakes , cruguet stood up in the stirrups , raised his right arm over his head , and jubilantly gave the crowd a victory salute by waving his whip in the air .
in 1978 , cruguet was the regular jockey aboard mac diarmida , whose wins included the two most important north american turf races with european competitors : the canadian international championship at woodbine racetrack in toronto , canada and the washington , d.c. international at laurel park racecourse in laurel , maryland .
mac diarmida was voted the 1978 eclipse award for american champion male turf horse .
jean cruguet retired from riding at age 41 in july 1980 to join his wife as a full-time trainer in their own small stable , but he returned to riding two years later .
his last major grade i stakes victory came aboard hodges bay in the 1989 canadian international stakes at woodbine racetrack .
retired and now living near versailles , kentucky , cruguet made guest appearances for many years in support of organizations such as old friends equine , a retirement and rescue facility for pensioned thoroughbreds in midway , kentucky .
for a time , he almost completely disappeared from the public eye because he was the sole caregiver for his wife denyse , who was bedridden after suffering a debilitating stroke in 2003 .
she died at their home in kentucky in september 2010 .
