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Women of Wide World: Julie Krone
ABC Sports Online
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By the time she was 13, Julie Krone knew what she wanted to do: become the best jockey in the world. Indeed, the 4-foot-10 Krone did just that. She worked up through the lower ranks of racing while living in Florida with her grandmother before riding her first winner, Lord Farkle, at Tampa Bay Downs in 1981.
|  | | Julie Krone retired with 3,545 victories. |
When Krone retired in 1999, she did so as one of the best jockeys ever and earned induction into the National Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in 2000.
A native of Benton Harbor, Mich., Krone was the first woman to ever ride winning horse in a Triple Crown race when she captured Belmont Stakes aboard Colonial Affair in 1993.
The Belmont was just one of her many achievements. While overcoming naysayers throughout her career because she was female, she retired with 3,545 victories and more than $81 million in lifetime earnings.
"Winning the Belmont Stakes was an amazing thing, other than the obvious fact that I lived my dream, which was just incredible," Krone said. "Think of it for a moment ... How many kids do you see watching major league baseball and they say the same thing? Especially a young girl watching who says, 'I know that I can pitch and play ball,' but the sport is male dominated. So I think about where this dream of mine could have come from when there were so many obstacles in my way."
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