CHICAGO, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Earlie Fires, who holds the record at Illinois' Arlington Park race track for most career victories, says he is retiring from horse racing after 45 years.
The 61-year-old jockey said after 2,886 wins at the race track in Arlington Heights, Ill., he will call it quits with 6,470 total career victories to his name, the Daily Herald newspaper in Arlington Heights, Ill., said Monday.
"I thought I'd be a jockey until I quit," Fires said. "How long it would last, I didn't know. I actually over-lived being a rider. Most riders are done at 45 and I made it to 60 -- that's pretty good."
Unfortunately for Fires he was unable to end his notable horse racing career on a high note. The veteran jockey, riding Mancho Prince, failed to win his last race Sunday at the race park in the Chicago suburb, the Herald said.
"I really wanted to win a race," Fires told the newspaper. "I was actually going to quit earlier but it didn't work out that way. I thought I could ride a horse or two that had a shot to win a race. I wanted to win my last race here but it just didn't happen."
