John Shear, the popular and durable Santa Anita Paddock Captain, passed away Tuesday from natural causes at age 102 according to a release from the track.

A nice man quick with a smile, Shear enthusiastically loved the racing industry. In 2021 he was given NTWAB's Mr. Fitz Award for typifying the spirit of racing at the organization's Annual Awards Dinner during Breeders' Cup week. With Shear was unable to attend the event, his son Mike Shear accepted the award. The previous summer, John had opted to retire while in good health at age 100.

“John will be deeply missed by countless life-long friends here at Santa Anita,” said Nate Newby, Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager. “We were honored to have him as part of the Santa Anita family for more than 60 years of dedicated service and we’ll never forget him.”

Born Jan. 17, 1921 in England, John was raised in an orphanage from age four to 14. At four feet 11 inches, he originally aspired to be a jockey. The plan was disrupted by World War II, when he sustained a shoulder injury while serving in an anti-aircraft unit. Following the war John emigrated to Vancouver, B.C. before going to southern California and Santa Anita as an exercise boy in 1954. Shear was an assistant trainer when he first began working in Santa Anita’s parking lot in 1961.

“I was exercising horses for a guy in Vancouver and he asked me if I’d like to go with him to Santa Anita that fall,” he said on the occasion of his 99th birthday. “I said ‘Sure,’ and as soon as I stepped off that van in the stable area here, I said ‘Lord, this is where I want to be.’ The place was so incredibly beautiful and I’ve never gotten tired of it.”

John attributed his fitness to a good diet, a consistent exercise regimen that included daily push-ups and walks, and regular trips to Las Vegas with friends to play poker and laugh. He had this very basic advice on the occasion of his retirement: “Find something you love, stay positive and exercise!”

John received national acclaim at age 90 after he likely saved a 5-year-old girl from catastrophic injury or worse when he shielded her from a loose horse that bolted out of Santa Anita’s Seabiscuit Walking Ring. He was run over and sustained multiple fractures, including a broken pelvis, and life-threatening internal bleeding. The young girl, Roxy Key, was unhurt.

Roxy's father Michael Key was with her when John gave up his body. “He didn’t save a daughter, he saved a family,” Key said. Roxy’s mother would later refer to John as her daughter’s “guardian angel.”

John Shear is survived by his wife Diane and their son Mike. The family plans to have a private ceremony in honor of John.

Edited Santa Anita release with additional content by Dick Downey