Career
He also rode in Australia, South Africa, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. He rode a record 124 winners in the 1967-1968 season, and in May 1980 became the first New Zealand jockey to ride 2000 winners. He finished with 2179.
He remains the most successful jockey of the 20th century in New Zealand with those figures.
The big two mile victories in New Zealand included the Auckland Cup on Lucky Son, which he also trained. His father-in-law Fred Pratt"s mare Foglia Doctorate"Oro in the New Zealand Cup and Loofah in the Wellington Cup.
Skelton was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990, and to the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame in 2006. Bill"s son David also rode in both New Zealand and Australia.
