Legend – Jockey

Frankie Mann, one of Canada’s premier jockeys in the 1930s, won more King’s Plate races than any other jockey – seven. Three at Woodbine and four at Blue Bonnets in Montreal. Born in 1905 in England, Mann came to Canada in 1920. He was often lauded for his patience, cool manner and exceptional skill in judging pace and won almost every stakes race in Ontario and Quebec.

He was aboard Froth Blower in capturing the 1931 Plate and on Queensway a year later. In 1934 Mann won his third Plate race at Woodbine on R.S. (Sam) McLaughlin’s Horometer, a horse he often said “was the greatest Canadian-bred I’ve ever ridden.” Horometer was inducted in Canada’s Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1976, the first year of inductions.

In 1937, his career in Ontario collapsed when the Incorporated Canadian Racing Association announced that it had revoked the licences of eight riders. “Suspicious behaviour” was the reason given for the suspensions. Mann was considered to be the “ringleader” of the group and was not reinstated until 1943. (Two other suspended jockeys, Bobby Watson and John Passero, were later inducted into the Hall of Fame.)  Mann continued his riding career in Quebec, adding Plate wins in 1943 and 1948 after earlier victories in 1928 and 1936. His last plate ride at Woodbine came in 1948 on Red Bottle, who was part of the five-horse mutuel field and finished seventh. Mann later worked for the OJC, selling mutuel tickets at the $50 window.