Former Jockey Johnny Sellers dead at 72

Johnny Sellers, the Hall of Fame jockey who was the regular rider of Carry Back on whom he won two-thirds of the 1961 Triple Crown, died Friday in a Fayetteville, Arkansas, nursing home, according to published reports. Sellers was 72.

A native of Los Angeles, Sellers was raised on a farm outside Tulsa, Oklahoma, and began riding at age 16. He scored his first success at Sunshine Park (now Tampa Bay Downs) in 1955 and added 2,786 more victories until his retirement from the saddle in 1977.