Larry Gilligan, a former jockey who rode throughout the United States and later worked as an exercise rider and a racing official at Del Mar and Santa Anita, died on Saturday, according to his friends.
Gilligan turned 88 on Sept. 14. He had been ill with cancer, his friends said. Gilligan was at his home in Big Pine, Calif., at the time of his death.
Gilligan was active as recently as the final weeks of the Del Mar summer meeting that ended on Sept. 7. He worked as a “quick official” positioned on the clubhouse turn. In that capacity, Gilligan was tasked with communicating to the stewards when jockeys wanted to lodge an objection moments after a race was completed. California tracks typically make races official before horses have been ridden in front of the grandstand to be unsaddled.
In a 2017 interview with Santa Anita publicity, Gilligan said he enjoyed the job as a way to stay active in the sport.
“I get up every morning and keep moving,” he said.
Born in Dunbar, Iowa, Gilligan rode extensively throughout the nation. He rode in the Kentucky Derby three times, with his best finish an eighth aboard Fleet Shoe in 1966.
In the fall of 1961, he rode 18 winners in eight racing days at Tropical Park in Florida, according to a New York Times report. In the 1961 season, Gilligan won 170 races, ranking in a tie for 20th in the nation, with mounts that earned $989,883, which left him 13th nationally. That year, Gilligan rode Oink to a win in the United Nations Handicap at Atlantic City.
In 1962, he won 132 races with mounts that earned $828,577, 20th in the nation.
Gilligan’s stakes winners in the late 1950s included Munchausen in the Meadowland Handicap and Grecian Heir in the Modesty Handicap, both at Arlington Park in 1957; Jimmer in the 1958 City of Coral Gables Handicap at Tropical Park; Terra Firma in the Charles Bidwell Handicap at Hawthorne; and Miss Orestes in the Molly Pitcher Handicap at Monmouth Park in 1959.
In 1962, Gilligan won stakes with Jay Fox in the Gulfstream Park Handicap, Nassau Hall in the Delaware Valley Handicap at Garden State Park, and No Resisting in the Colleen Stakes at Monmouth Park. In 1963, Gilligan rode Mongo to a win in the Camden Handicap at Garden State Park and Geology to a victory in the City of Miami Beach Handicap at Tropical Park. In 1964, Gilligan won the Florida Breeders Stakes at Hialeah Park on He’s a Gem.
Gilligan rode Crimson Satan, the 1961 champion 2-year-old male, to a first-place finish in the 1962 Jersey Derby at Garden State Park, only to be disqualified and placed third for causing interference in the stretch. Jaipur was the promoted to the winner's circle and won the Belmont Stakes 10 days later.
In California, Gilligan was closely associated with the late Hall of Fame trainer Charles Whittingham during and after his riding career. For Whittingham, Gilligan rode Social Climber to a win in the 1956 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita. Gilligan was part of a jockeys' room that year that included Eddie Arcaro, John Longden, Bill Shoemaker, George Taniguchi, Ismael Valenzuela, and Ray York.
After he retired from riding, Gilligan later worked as a jockeys' valet. He also exercised horses for Whittingham, including Ferdinand, the 1987 Horse of the Year and older male.
At Del Mar, Gilligan’s wins included the 1968 Ramona Handicap on Scoop Time. At Hollywood Park, Gilligan won a division of the 1964 Juvenile on Neke and a division of the Will Rogers Handicap in 1970 aboard Lime, who was trained by Whittingham.
Gilligan began riding in 1954 and rode until the early 1980s. Survivors include his daughter, Brenda Gilligan; sister Judy Sterling; and niece Patty Sterling, a jockeys' agent in Southern California.
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