William Norris "Bill" Boland (born July 16, 1933 at Corpus Christi, Texas) is a retired American Hall of Fame jockey and trainer 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 ...

. Boland began his riding career in 1949 at Belmont Park in

Elmont, New York Elmont is an unincorporated hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City. The population was 35,265 at the 2 ...

. While still a sixteen-year-old apprentice, riding Better Self for owner Robert J. Kleberg Jr.'s

King Ranch King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States. At some it is larger than the state of Rhode Island and country of Luxembourg. It is mainly a cattle ranch, but also produced the Triple Crown winning racehorse Assault. The ranch is lo ...

and trainer

Max Hirsch Maximilian Justice "Max" Hirsch (July 12, 1880 - April 3, 1969) was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Born in Fredericksburg, Texas, and raised Roman Catholic, Hirsch became one of the most successful trainers in Thorou ...

, Boland earned the first stakes race win of his career on April 29, 1950 in the

Gallant Fox Handicap The Gallant Fox Handicap is a discontinued Thoroughbred horse race in New York City which was run annually from 1939 through 2009. Hosted by the now defunct Jamaica Race Course in Jamaica, Queens from inception through 1957, it was then moved to ...

at Jamaica Race Course. He went on to the

Kentucky Oaks The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday ...

aboard Ari's Mona then the following day rode

Middleground Middleground (April 22, 1947 – February 16, 1972) "Grave Matters Farm Index North America" (horse graves), Thoroughbred Heritage, 2005, webpage: was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1950 Kentucky Derby and Belmont S ...

to victory in the Kentucky Derby. Boland missed winning the U.S. Triple Crown series that year when he and Middleground finished second after a rough trip in the

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 () o ...

but then won the Belmont Stakes. In 1966 Boland won his second Belmont Stakes aboard

Amberoid Amberoid (foaled 1963 in Kentucky) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1966 American Classic, the Belmont Stakes. Amberoid was conditioned for racing by future Hall of Fame trainer Lucien Laurin and ridden primaril ...

for trainer

Lucien Laurin Lucien Laurin (March 18, 1912 – June 26, 2000) was a French-Canadian jockey and Hall of Fame Thoroughbred horse trainer. He was best known for training Secretariat (horse), Secretariat, who won the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United Sta ...

. Widely respected by his peers, in 1959 Bill Boland received the

George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional condu ...

given to the North American jockey who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack.The Spokane, Washington ''Spokesman-Review'' - February 3, 1959
/ref> Bill Boland retired from racing in 1969 and turned to training horses for a time. He was inducted into the United States Racing Hall of Fame in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boland, William 1933 births Living people American jockeys United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees People from Corpus Christi, Texas