Burns on the Scales

Burns on the Scales

Photography of horse sports

This photograph features jockey Thomas H. Burns on the scales, with his weigh in overseen by a Clerk of Scales.

Thomas Burns was the country’s top jockey by wins in 1898 and 1899. He claimed the 1898 Tennessee Derby atop Lieber Karl, the 1900 St. Louis Derby aboard Sam Phillips, and the Manhattan in 1899 on O’Leary and in 1903 on Castalian. Burns rode W.C. Whitney’s Gunfire to victory in the 1903 Metropolitan Handicap and James R. Keene’s Delhi to claim the 1905 Brooklyn Handicap. Other notable wins include the 1905 Saratoga and Twin City Handicaps, and a second Tennessee Derby in 1906.

Thomas Burns was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1983

John C. Hemment

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