Many sports pushes the human body to the limit, and this exertion can prove fatal for some.
Frank Hayes was born in 1901 in Ireland.
When he was a teenager he and his family emigrated to the United States in 1916.
They lived in Brooklyn and Hayes found work as a stable hand for horse breeder James K.L.
Despite the odds against him, Hayes managed to pilot the horse to an early lead.
It cantered a further one hundred yards and stopped.
The track physician Dr John A.H Voorhees hurried to the scene, believing Hayes had suffered an injury.
He administered first aid, but it was already too late.
Frank Hayes was dead.
Hayes was reportedly trying to shed weight to meet requirements.
A newspaper reported that he had slimmed down from 142 pounds to 130 pounds in a very short time.
The last ten pounds he tried to shake off in just 24 hours.
The morning of the race, he spent several hours on the road jogging and denied himself water.
When he climbed into the saddle, he was weak and tired.
Hayes already had a weak heart, as his mother Margaret attested.
