Ted Atkinson

Born in Toronto, Ontario, as a child Ted Atkinson's family moved across the border to upstate New York. He began his career in thoroughbred horse racing in 1938 and for twelve of his twenty-one years in the sport, Wilkinson rode exclusively for the wealthy New York Whitney family's Greentree Stable. In 1944 he was North America's leading jockey in both number of wins and money earned. He repeated the feat in 1946, a year in which he also became the first rider to achieve purse earnings of more the $1 million in a single season.

Riding Greentree's colt "Capot," Atkinson just missed winning the U.S. triple Crown in 1949 when he finished second in the Kentucky Derby then won both the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. Atkinson was also the jockey for all of Hall of Famer, Tom Fool's races, guiding the colt to Horse of the Year honors in 1953.

In 1957, Ted Atkinson won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award and that same year was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Following his retirement in 1959 as a result of a back injury, Atkinson served as a track steward at U.S. racing facilities.

Ted Atkinson passed away in 2005 at his home near Beaverdam, Virginia.