Winning his first race at Fort Erie in 1941, Chris embarked on a stellar 35 year career as a jockey. He won 2,043 races, including numerous important graded stakes races in Canada and was considered one of the most complete riders of his time. He won the country’s most prestigious race, the kings plate, twice, aboard Epic in 1949 and McGill, in 1950. His third Plate (the Queen’s Plate) victory came aboard Collisteo in 1954. In 1958 Chris was in the irons as he guided long shot Lincoln Road to the winner’s circle in the Jersey Derby and fashioned second place finishes in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes behind the future Hall of Fame colt Tim Tam. In 1977, the year following his death, The Jockey Club of Canada awarded Chris a Sovereign Award of Merit. In 1988, his son Robert accepted the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award on behalf of his late father. The award honours a jockey’s contribution to Canadian racing.