A plaque honoring recently retired 100-year-old paddock captain John Shear was unveiled at Santa Anita Park Friday, coinciding with the opening day of the Arcadia track’s Autumn Meet.
The plaque honoring Shear’s commitment to customer service and safety is located near his working position just outside the Seabiscuit Walking Ring at what has been designated “John Shear’s Post.”
“Thank you to a Santa Anita Park legend for 60 years of dedicated service in keeping everyone in the paddock safe including generations of horses, horsemen and fans,” the plaque reads.
The plaque also makes reference to Shear throwing himself into the path of an onrushing loose horse when he was 90, potentially saving the life of a 5-year-old girl.
Shear was standing at his usual post, at the edge of the paddock fence, before the third race on March 12, 2011, when the 3-year-old gelding See and Sage broke free from his handler in the walking ring and sprinted toward the girl.
“The next thing I heard was `Loose horse! Loose horse!”’ Shear told KCAL in a 2011 interview. “Everybody scattered. They scattered like crazy — except the little girl. She stood right beside me. And so I could see the horse was about 20 feet from me and heading right towards us.”
Witness Aaron Hesz told the station Shear jumped in front of the girl as See and Sage galloped toward them at full speed and the colt’s shoulder struck Shear in the head.
“As soon as I did that, the horse hit me head on,” Shear said. “One of the security guards knelt down beside me. All I said to him, I didn’t want to black out, I said to him `Well, Ben, I don’t think I’ll be at work tomorrow,’ and he just laughed.”
The impact of the collision shattered Shear’s pelvis and fractured one of his cheek bones.
“He was completely black and blue, flat down on his back, barely able to be responsive and it was frightening,” son Michael Shear told KCAL.
The girl wasn’t injured and left the racetrack with her family after talking with security.
“I didn’t do this to be a hero,” the elder Shear told KCAL following his release from Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. “I never thought of anything like that.”
The track declared Friday as John Shear Day. Fans were invited to wish Shear a happy retirement by filling out complimentary postcards that will be delivered to him.
Santa Anita announced Friday it was renaming the Santana Mile the “John Shear Mile.”
“We are proud to rename this race in his honor and to help share his legacy of kindness, compassion and dedication to the well-being of our sport with many generations of future racegoers,” said Chris Merz, Santa Anita’s director of racing and racing secretary.
The next edition of the $75,000 race for older horses will be run April 10.
Shear announced his retirement July 26 from his role ensuring the safety of the horses and the people around them in the area where horses are saddled and paraded before being taken onto the track.
“For 60 years, I worked all the Southern California racetracks, met many incredible people and saw the best horses,” Shear tweeted. “It has been a career I look back with great pride and wonderful memories. I’m in great health and will visit SA as a fan.”
Sidelined due to COVID-related restrictions at the track earlier in 2021, Shear was reluctant to call it a career.
“John really wanted to go back to work this year, but with COVID basically shutting things down, it just wasn’t possible,” his wife Diane said in a telephone interview in July. “He misses the horses and the people so much. The fans, the jockeys, the trainers, everybody, it’s just been his life forever.”
Orphaned as a young boy in his native England, Shear, at four feet, 11 inches, originally aspired to be a jockey and following service in World War II, he emigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia. He came to Santa Anita in 1954 as an exercise boy.
“I was exercising horses for a guy in Vancouver and he asked me if I’d like to go with him to Santa Anita that fall,” Shear said in an interview before his 100th birthday in January.
“I said, `Sure,’ and as soon as I stepped off that van in the stable area here, I said `Lord, this is where I want to be.’ The place was so incredibly beautiful and I’ve never gotten tired of it.”