Mike Manganello

Michael "Mike" Manganello (born 1941 in Hartford, Connecticut) is a retired American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey.

Riding career

He got his start working for trainer Odie Clelland as a stable hand then began riding professionally in 1959 and earned his first win on March 3, 1960 at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans. On June 25, 1964 he rode five straight winners at Ohio's Thistledown Racecourse. He was a long-time fan favorite at Florida Downs in Oldsmar, Florida where he won four races on a single day on February 15, 1968, set a season record with 75 wins in 1969, and by 1975 had won five riding titles. His five wins in the Turfway Park Fall Championship Stakes is the most by any jockey as at 2009.

Citing safety concerns, in 1968 Manganello was part of a group of jockeys competing at Churchill Downs who signed an informal agreement declaring that they would not compete against Penny Ann Early who was trying to become the first female jockey to ride in a race at a major racetrack in the United States.