COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — On a race day at Fairmount Park, the eyes are naturally on the thoroughbreds. But when Kim Sampson is on a horse, the eyes should also be on her.
The Collinsville native's jockey story is one wild ride.
Sampson grew up around horses, but never thought she'd be riding races with them.
“I’d always see in McDonald's they’d have a display of the horses… and Diane Danford was riding back then… but I was 16 years old and didn’t think I had any shot. And it was one of those little fairy tale dreams like you’re watching cowboy shows or whatever," Sampson said. “That’s where I take my pride. I like to get to know the horse. I like being soft with them. I like having a little bit of finesse with them and getting them to do what I want.”
Kim’s childhood dream did become a reality when she met trainer Jerry Sampson and ended up gaining more than an opportunity to ride competitively. She also gained a husband.
“Probably about a year and a half after I was working for him we were married. And I was younger than he was, much younger. And once mom and dad found out, they tried to put the skids to it, but...," Sampson said.
When she first started, Sampson was a trailblazer, mostly riding longshots. Although it didn’t exactly start so smoothly
“My first race out, they booed me. My horse charged the gate and we got out bad and the crowd booed me terrible," Sampson said.
Her third race on that first day went better, though, where she notched her first-ever trip to the winner’s circle. And with each ride, Sampson began getting respect as a woman in a male-dominant sport.
“As long as you work hard, you get accepted in a sense. And that’s where back riding races I think a lot of them didn’t accept me, but as long as I was riding sound, riding good (things were good)," Sampson said.
But she is nothing if not humble when asked about when she knew she was talented as a jockey.
“Never… hahaha. Probably never,” Sampson laughed.
It wasn’t just on the track where Sampson was proving she could keep up with the men, either.
“I was an ironworker for local 392 out of East St. Louis. I worked 28 years in the ironworkers," Sampson said. “I was tying rebar the first 5 years, bent over on a bridge deck. But I was stout from galloping these horses. They said, ‘The ironworking made you strong for the horses.’ And I said, ‘No, the horses made me strong for the ironworking.’ I’d carry a big bundle of rebar and I’d throw it up and I’d drag them 20 year-olds down the thing to show them."
In 1983, Sampson walked away from the horses to focus on her family, as her and her husband purchased and ran a campground. But Sampson's passion for racing never left.
“I always felt like I wanted to come back, and I felt like I was doing better than people were giving me credit for," Sampson said.
And in 2022, Sampson finally returned… after nearly four decades away.
“When I quit riding at the end of October (1983), and I took it from my last win… it was 38 years and 180 days. So nobody comes back at 62 years old and goes riding races," Sampson said.
Now, she’s 65. And just completed a truly amazing feat at Fairmount, getting in the winner's circle for the 100th time in her career. It's a career that his now spanned over 40 years.
“Any other ladies that rode races at 65 I don’t know… let alone any that won two longshots in one day," Sampson said of her accomplishment. "We were in the winners circle and it still never even really hit me emotionally until I got back in the jock’s room. And then the tears hit.”
And if her late husband could see her now, still winning at 65, there would likely be some more tears.
“He would be proud. He would be proud of me. Tears would flow," Sampson said.
She’s not certain if the 100th win will be her last.
“I got somebody that keeps trying to talk me into it for next year," Sampson said. “If it’s meant to be I’ll be back, and if it’s not I’ll be gone fishing or something.”
But if Sampson really has seen her final run at Fairmount, it was career of trailblazing and perseverance.
“The determination and work ethic. In any career… you have to keep pushing forward. You don’t know what life’s gonna throw at you. But as long as you keep working at things, you can make it. Nothing is impossible if you keep going for it.”