[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 107 (Tuesday, June 26, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H5666-H5667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CONGRATULATING MIKE EARL SMITH FOR WINNING THE TRIPLE CROWN

  (Mr. PEARCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, the Triple Crown is one of the most 
significant achievements in all of sports, but especially in the sport 
of horse racing.
  In fact, it is such a rare achievement that only 13 times since 1875 
has it been accomplished. This year, Mike Earl Smith, also known as 
``Big Money Mike,'' jockeyed his thoroughbred horse, Justify, to 
achieve the Triple Crown.
  Now, the Triple Crown, in order to win it, you must win the Kentucky 
Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes all in the same 
racing season. And Mike did just that. It was only the second time in 
the last 40 years that it has occurred.
  Mike is the oldest jockey to ever win the Triple Crown. He was born 
in Roswell, New Mexico, and raised on a farm outside of Dexter, New 
Mexico. He has been racing since age 11. He won his first professional 
race in 1982 at the Downs at Santa Fe.
  At one point, he broke his back and returned from that. In 2003, he 
was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame; in 2013, 
into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. Winner of nearly 5,500 races, 
these three this year set Mike into the history books.
  Congratulations, Mike.

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