Bob Skelton (jockey)

Bob Skelton
Occupation	Jockey
Born	1934 New Zealand
Career wins	2230
Major racing wins
Wellington Cup (1961, 1962, 1963) Auckland Cup (1974, 1977) Melbourne Cup (1976) Easter Handicap (1977) Perth Cup 1980,1981
Honours
New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame (2006) New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame 1995, MBE
Significant horses
Grey Way, Van der Hum, Great Sensation Showgate

Robert J. "Bob" Skelton (born 1934) was a top jockey in New Zealand and Australian Thoroughbred horse racing who competed from the 1950s through the 1980s. Among his many major race wins, Skelton rode Great Sensation to three victories in the Wellington Cup and won the Auckland Cup on Rose Mellay in 1974 and again in 1977 on Royal Cadenza. In 1976, he rode Van der Hum to victory in Australia's most prestigious race, the Melbourne Cup and ten years later rode Rising Fear into second place in the 1986 Cup.

Skelton retired in the 1987-88 season. He was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1995, and into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2007 the Auckland Racing Club voted him as their 8th official "Legend of Ellerslie" where he won nine jockey premierships at Ellerslie Racecourse between 1955 and 1976.

His brother Bill Skelton was also a successful jockey.

References

• Ryan, Dennis. RJ - The Bob Skelton Story (1979) Rugby Press, Auckland ISBN 0-9597553-6-5
• Profiles of Fame: The stories of New Zealand’s Greatest Sporting Achievers by Ron Palenski (2002, New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame, Dunedin) p. 42 ISBN 0-473-08536-4
• Bob Skelton profile at the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame