As far as height and weight are concerned, Sandy Hawley is just a little guy at 5 foot 2 inches and 105 lbs. But in terms of status and achievement, the Mississauga jockey is among the true giants of the thoroughbred racing world.

     In 1993, Sandy rode into the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame on the wings of accomplishments few would even dare dream of, let alone achieve.

     At the time of his induction into the Hall of Fame, he had won more than 6,000 races and his mounts had earned nearly $78 million in a racing career dating back to 1968.

     Born in Oshawa, Sandy made his first mark on the sports world not as a jockey, but as an all-star high school wrestler (lightweight, of course), winning a silver medal at the Ontario championships. He quit high school as a junior to work on E.P. Taylor's stud farm, then started riding as an apprentice jockey, winning his first race at Woodbine on October 14, 1968 aboard Fly Alone. The rest, as they say, is history.

     He led North American apprentices with 230 victories in '69, was top winner among North American jockeys four times (1970, '72, '73 and '76), leading rider in Canada nine times and became the first jockey to win more than 500 races in a single season in '74, breaking the legendary Bill Shoemaker's record.

     This he considers one of his most memorable achievements. " I am especially proud of being the first jockey to win 500 races in a year, it was something I really strived for, " he says.

     Hawley has an impressive list of major stakes to win to his credit. Altogether he can boast of four Queen's Plate victories: Almoner (19700, Kennedy road (1971), L'Enjoleur (1975) and Regal Embrace (1978). He also won back-to-back Washington, D.C. Internationals in 1975 and '76, captured the 1979 Arkansas and Louisiana derbies and took the 1975 Whitney Handicap.

     Hawley was voted Canadian Racing's man of the year in '88, his first season back in Ontario after 10 years in California. He was winner of the Lou marsh Award as Canada's Outstanding Athlete twice (1973 and 1976), won the Avelino Gomez memorial Trophy as outstanding Canadian rider in '76, won the Eclipse Award as top jockey in '76 and was granted the order of Canada.

     His induction into the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame comes on the heels of induction's into a number of other halls of fame-Canada's Horse racing hall of Fame, the National Museum and Racing Hall of fame at Saratoga, N.Y. and the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame.

     Sandy rides in southern California during the winter months ( and, when time allows and being a big hockey fan, serves as a penalty box attendant at Los Angeles king's home games) and in Canada in the summer months. He considers 1992 one of the most memorable years of his life for a couple of sound reasons. On November 26, he became only the ninth ride in history to reach the 6,000 win mark. It was also the year that Sandy became a father for the first time when his wife Lisa gave birth to son, Bradley Desmond, at the Credit Valley Hospital.