Robert Wyndham Walden (August 2, 1844 – April 28, 1905) was one of the most successful American
trainers
Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used f ...
in
thoroughbred horse racing
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in t ...
during the last quarter of the 19th century. He was inducted in the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...
in 1970.
Known by his middle name, Wyndham, in 1872 Walden and his wife Caroline moved from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to
Middleburg in
Carroll County, Maryland
Carroll County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 172,891. Its county seat is Westminster.
Carroll County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is ...
where they established "Bowling Brook Farm" to breed and train
thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...
race horses.
Wyndham Walden trained his first
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on ...
winner in 1875,
Tom Ochiltree
Tom Ochiltree (1872–1897), was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1875 Preakness Stakes and several other major stakes. In 1877, he lost in one of the most famous match races of the nineteenth century – a race that had been so ...
, then two years later began a streak of five straight victories, all of which came with horses owned by
George L. Lorillard. Walden won the Preakness for a seventh time in 1888 with his own horse,
Refund. The win set a record for a trainer which still stands, and is tied with
Bob Baffert's seven wins.
During a career spanning thirty-one years between 1872 and 1902, he also won the
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...
four times and trained more than 100
Stakes race winners.
His son
Robert J. Walden won the
1899 Kentucky Derby with
Manuel, owned by the Morris brothers,
Alfred
Alfred may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series
* ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne
* ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák
*"Alfred (Interlu ...
and
Dave Dave may refer to:
Film, television, and theater
* ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver
* ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film
* Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...
.
His daughter, Minnie Walden, married jockey
Fred Littlefield
Fred may refer to:
People
* Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name
Mononym
* Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French
* Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico R ...
who rode
Refund to his
1888 Preakness Stakes victory and was aboard
Bowling Brook
Bowling Brook (foaled 1895) was a British-bred American-trained Thoroughbred racehorse.
Background
His sire, Ayrshire, won two of the British Classic Races, the 1888 Epsom Derby and 2,000 Guineas. Grandsire Hampton was the Leading sire in ...
for the win in the
1898 Belmont Stakes.
On Wyndham Walden's death in 1905, Bowling Brook Farm was taken over by his wife, then on her death by their son Robert, who lived there until his death in 1951. Over the Walden family's eighty-year history in racing they raised and trained winners of more than one thousand races.
Classic Race winning horses
Kentucky Derby:
*
Manuel (1899)
Preakness Stakes:
*
Tom Ochiltree
Tom Ochiltree (1872–1897), was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1875 Preakness Stakes and several other major stakes. In 1877, he lost in one of the most famous match races of the nineteenth century – a race that had been so ...
(1875)
*
Duke of Magenta (1878)
*
Harold
Harold may refer to:
People
* Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Harold (surname), surname in the English language
* András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold"
Arts a ...
(1879)
*
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
(1880)
*
Saunterer (1881)
*
Vanguard
The vanguard (also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force.
History
The vanguard derives fr ...
(1882)
*
Refund (1888)
Belmont Stakes:
*
Duke of Magenta (1878)
*
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
(1880)
*
Saunterer (1881)
*
Bowling Brook
Bowling Brook (foaled 1895) was a British-bred American-trained Thoroughbred racehorse.
Background
His sire, Ayrshire, won two of the British Classic Races, the 1888 Epsom Derby and 2,000 Guineas. Grandsire Hampton was the Leading sire in ...
(1898)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walden, R. Wyndham
1844 births
1905 deaths
American horse trainers
American racehorse owners and breeders
Owners of Preakness Stakes winners
Breeders of Preakness Stakes winners
United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees