In 1940, Dew captivated North American racing fans when he and fellow 19-year-old jockey Walter Lee Taylor battled for that year's riding title and were tied with two days left on the calendar.
In what The New York Times described as the "Transcontinental Struggle for American Championship," Dew was competing at Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico, and Taylor at Tropical Park Race Track in Coral Gables, Florida.
[1] The January 16, 1941 Los Angeles Times reported that Dew said the best horse he rode in 1940 was Mioland, a colt bred and raced that year by a man named H. W. Ray.
On January 7, 1941, Iowa native sons Earl Dew and baseball star Bob Feller were honored at ceremonies in the state capital of Des Moines.
He was riding in the sixth race when he was involved in a three-horse accident and died while en route to hospital of a cerebral hemorrhage resulting from a fractured skull.