Career
He started riding as a young farm boy and began his professional riding career in 1938, competing at tracks in his native Nebraska. In the June 18, 1955 Californian Stakes at Hollywood Park Racetrack, Dave Erb was the substitute rider for the suspended Bill Shoemaker aboard Swaps. Erb piloted the three-year-old colt to a world record time of 1:40 2/5 for a mile and a sixteenth on dirt.
That same year, Dave Erb became the regular jockey for future United States. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Swoon"s Son.
Ridden by Erb in all but one of his twenty-two career stakes race wins, they raced primarily at tracks in Chicago and Kentucky
After winning the Flamingo Stakes and the Florida Derby, Erb and Needles narrowly missed winning the American Triple Crown. David Erb appeared as a contestant on the game show program "To Tell The Truth" dated February 26, 1957.
After retiring as a jockey in 1960, Dave Erb trained horses. David Erb retired from the industry in 1988.
In 2008, Dave Erb became the 29th jockey to add his handprint and signature in cement to the "Gallup to Glory" display at the Galt House hotel in Louisville, Kentucky.
