Roscoe Goose

Roscoe Goose

Roscoe Tarleton Goose (January 21, 1891 - June 11, 1971) was an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing who was one of the inaugural class of inductees in the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.

Born near Louisville, Kentucky, Roscoe Goose won a number of races, the most important of which came in 1913 when he captured the Kentucky Derby with the colt, Donerail. Sent off at 91:1 odds, Roscoe Goose stunned racing fans with a win that returned backers $184.90 for a $2 wager, a Derby record which still stands. Dubbed The Golden Goose, when his career as a jockey came to an end he remained in the Thoroughbred racing industry as a trainer and an owner. In 1928, he was the leading trainer at Arlington Park in Chicago and in 1931 was training at Ellis Park Racecourse in Henderson, Kentucky. . In 1940 he was back at Chicago's Arlington Park where he trained the winner of the Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes.

Roscoe Goose also acted as an adviser to buyers of horses and served as president of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Breeders Association for three years. Success in racing and wise management of his money made him a very wealthy man. In 1974, author Ruby Earl, with an introduction by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Eddie Arcaro, told his life story in a book titled The Golden Goose; story of the jockey who won the most stunning Kentucky Derby and then became a millionaire.