FactOTD
Frank Hayes Won a Horse Race in 1923 — He Had Died Mid-Race
history

Frank Hayes Won a Horse Race in 1923 — He Had Died Mid-Race

March 28, 2026 · 3 min read

The Fact

In 1923, a jockey named Frank Hayes won a race at Belmont Park despite suffering a fatal heart attack mid-race.

A Race With an Extraordinary Outcome

Horse racing has produced some of sport's most dramatic moments, but few match what happened at Belmont Park on June 4, 1923. A horse named Sweet Kiss, a 20-to-1 long shot, crossed the finish line first in a steeplechase. The jockey slumped motionless in the saddle. When track officials and the horse's owner rushed over to congratulate Frank Hayes, they found that he was dead — he had suffered a heart attack during the race and was already gone when Sweet Kiss took the lead.

Hayes became, in that moment, the only person in recorded history to win a horse race posthumously. The victory was allowed to stand, as there was no rule requiring the jockey to be alive at the finish line, and Sweet Kiss had crossed first without any irregularity in the running of the race.

What Happened on the Course

The details reconstructed from witness accounts suggest that Hayes suffered his heart attack somewhere in the middle of the race but remained in the saddle due to the momentum of the ride and the position required by the steeplechase course. A well-trained jockey in a jumping race is deeply physically engaged — leaning forward, balancing through jumps, absorbing shocks with bent knees — and an observer at distance might not immediately distinguish a collapsed but seated rider from a crouching but active one.

Sweet Kiss, described as a spirited and capable horse, continued running and apparently navigated the course competently in the latter stages without active guidance. The horse crossed the line in first place, with Hayes still in the saddle, before anyone realized what had occurred.

Hayes was 35 years old. His background was in horse training and stable management rather than professional race riding — steeplechase events occasionally featured amateur or semi-professional jockeys, and Hayes had relatively limited racing experience. The physical stress of a race, combined with whatever underlying cardiac condition he may have had, proved fatal.

The Horse Who Won Alone

Sweet Kiss was purchased by her owner partly on Hayes's recommendation, and Hayes had been given the riding assignment partly because of his familiarity with the horse. In the aftermath of the race, the owner reportedly refused to allow anyone else to ride Sweet Kiss, honoring Hayes's final victory by retiring the horse from competition. This story, though widely repeated, has not been definitively verified from primary sources.

The Guinness World Records documents Hayes as the only known jockey to win a race while deceased — a category of record that presumably has never attracted competitive challenge. The 1923 race at Belmont remains one of the strangest entries in the long, strange history of thoroughbred racing: a long shot won by a dead man on a horse that ran the final furlongs alone, and the result stood because the rules had never anticipated a reason to address it.

F

FactOTD Editorial Team

Published March 28, 2026 · 3 min read

The FactOTD editorial team researches and verifies every fact before publication. Our mission is to make learning effortless and accurate. Learn about our process →

Related Articles

spaceAlan Shepard's 15 Minutes: America's First Journey to SpaceThree weeks after Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, Alan Shepard climbed into a capsule barely large enough to contain him and launched from Cape Canaveral. His 15-minute flight reached no orbit, traveled only 487 kilometers, and spent just 5 minutes in weightlessness — but it made him the first American in space and helped set America on a course to the Moon.technologyThe Black Box Is Actually Orange: Why Aviation's Most Important Recorder Is MisnamedEvery commercial aircraft carries devices universally known as 'black boxes,' yet they are not black — they are a vivid, high-visibility orange. The misnomer persists, but the color choice is deliberate and potentially life-saving: these devices need to be found in the wreckage of catastrophic accidents.sportsWimbledon's All-White Dress Code: Victorian Tradition in a Modern SportIn an era of fluorescent sports apparel and personal branding, Wimbledon requires its players to wear almost entirely white. The rule has its roots in Victorian ideas about modesty and propriety, and it has survived for over a century as both a point of pride and a source of controversy.sportsWhy Ancient Olympic Athletes Competed Naked — and What 'Gymnasium' Really MeansAncient Greek athletes competed in the Olympic Games completely naked — a practice that was not considered scandalous but was deeply embedded in Greek cultural attitudes toward the body, athletic excellence, and divine honor. The word 'gymnasium,' now a universal term for exercise facilities, comes directly from the Greek word 'gymnos,' meaning naked.