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The Only Time in Sports History When a Dead Man Won a Competition | Tales From the Bottle

Qxir | September 11, 2025



The Irishman is dead, but he’s not done yet.

“Frank Hayes (1901 – June 4, 1923) was a jockey who, on June 4, 1923, won a steeplechase despite suffering a fatal heart attack in the later part of the race at Belmont Park racetrack in Elmont, New York, US.
The twenty-two-year-old Hayes had never won a race before and in fact by profession was not actually a jockey but a horse trainer and longtime stableman. The horse, a 20–1 outsider called Sweet Kiss, was owned by Miss A. M. Frayling. Hayes apparently died somewhere in the latter part of the race, but his body remained in the saddle throughout. Sweet Kiss eventually crossed the finish line, winning by a head with Hayes technically still atop her back, making him the first, and thus far, the only jockey known to have won a race after death.”

More on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Hayes_(jockey)

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Written by Qxir

Comments

This post currently has 33 comments.

  13. @MexicoDigDoctor

    September 11, 2025 at 1:00 am

    Oh, I'm going to hell in a hand basket for sure now. This was the funniest most well-told true story I've ever heard, and it surely must be wicked to enjoy something like this as much as I did! Bless me father for I have sinned (but my DNA test proved I have some Irish roots…am I still entitled to a wake despite my glee?). 😂🇲🇽

  15. @grogery1570

    September 11, 2025 at 1:00 am

    This is one of those odd ones where you wonder were the stewards incredibly embarrassed by all of this or did the bookies like this result and push for the result to be upheld?
    Typically the win is not official until the jockey is weighed with his saddle, which is a little tricky to do when you are dead. But at twenty to one there was probably not much wagered on Sweet Kiss, which is when Bookies win, keeping all the money placed on favorites and even at the big odds not having to pay out much.

  21. @h.calvert3165

    September 11, 2025 at 1:00 am

    Due to handicapping, the jockey MUST stay on the horse in order to win, no matter what. All horses must be carrying the same weight, as determined at the weigh-in. Even if a living jockey falls off & his horse is first over the finish line, sorry, no win. For those who wonder what all the fuss is about. 🐎

  22. @lsedge7280

    September 11, 2025 at 1:00 am

    Not to lessen this Irishman's awesome story and amazing luck, however he isn't the only sportsman to win a competition, posthumously.

    Back in the Olympic Games, the OG ancient ones, there was a pankratiast (somewhat like a wrestler) known as Arrichion. He was quite successful, but in his final fight, against a competitor whose name we have lost to time, he was caught wrapped in their legs as they choked him with their hands. He dislocated his opponent's toe in an effort to escape, but the suffocation must have continued slightly longer, and he passed out and died, however either simultaneously, or at least before his death could be noted and the bout concluded (as Arrichion did not give in and submit), his opponent succumbed to the paint of their freshly dislocated toe, and submitted, forfeiting the fight, and causing Arrichion to be awarded the victory.

    Although, Hayes is still the only jockey to win a race posthumously!

  29. @suprememasteroftheuniverse

    September 11, 2025 at 1:00 am

    Cardiac arrest by dehydration. No need to run like an id. .. iot. when he could just have eaten only meat and fat. No carbohydrates, no strain, no dehydration, no heart failure. Humanity discovery this thousands of years ago. There were many medics in his time prescribing it but "doctors" nowadays still fight ketogenic/carnivore diet. Makes you wonder.

  33. @eamonahern7495

    September 11, 2025 at 1:00 am

    Mr. Qxir, may I draw your attention to Austrian racing driver Jochen Rindt? He was killed in a crash during qualifying for the Italian grand prix of 1970 while leading the formula one world championship. During the remaining races of that year, no other driver gained enough points to overtake Rindt in the championship so he was posthumously crowned world champion. So that jockey is technically not the only corpse to win a sports competition.

Comments are closed.

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