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2 unusual facts about Bill Hartack


Bill Hartack

On November 26, 2007, days before what would have been his 75th birthday, Hartack was found dead in a cabin at a camp near the town of Freer, Texas, in southern Texas, where he went each winter to hunt.

Referred to by the media as both "Bill" and "Willie" (actually Hartack detested being called "Willie" because of his dislike for fellow jockey Willie Shoemaker) during his racing career, Hartack grew up on his widowed father's farm in the Blacklick Township area of Cambria County, Pennsylvania.


Julie Krone

She would go on to make appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated for the issue of May 22, 1989, one of only eight jockeys so recognized (the others are Willie Shoemaker, Bill Hartack, Eddie Arcaro, Johnny Longden, John Sellers, Robyn Smith and Steve Cauthen).


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