On this day in April 1876, William Woodward (WW) was born to William Woodward and the former Sarah Rodman in New York City. His grandfather was a partner in a successful cotton house and, eventually, WW’s father would head up that house while WW’s uncle James became president of Hanover Bank. His family’s success allowed WW to grow up going to the races at Jerome Park and riding in his father’s fine carriages. From an early age, WW was surrounded by and enamored of horses.

After his father’s death in 1889, WW attended the Groton School and then went on to Harvard, graduating in 1898 and then completing a law degree in 1901. He spent two years in England as the secretary to the American ambassador to Britain, Joseph Chaote. His time there stoked his love for horses even more; WW had had his heart set on winning the Epsom Derby since his childhood and his two years in England only strengthened his resolve. He would breed and own thoroughbreds to run those classic distances. In time, WW would have stables in both the United States and England.

After returning to the United States, WW became vice president of Hanover National Bank, working with his uncle James. That same year, WW met socialite Elsie Ogden Cryder, one of a famous set of triplets, at Saratoga. They married in 1904. In 1910, James Woodward died, leaving WW his Maryland estate, Belair. WW would also become Hanover’s president and set about building Belair into a dominant thoroughbred breeding and racing operation. In 1923, WW asked “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons to become Belair’s trainer. Theirs would be a partnership that would change horse racing.

In addition to his work with Hanover National Bank, WW became a member of the Jockey Club in 1917 and then would be elected its chairman in 1930. That same year, Gallant Fox became the second Triple Crown winner, capitalizing on the interest that Sir Barton’s 1919 trip around the classics had created in winning the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. WW would win the Triple Crown a second time in 1935 with Omaha, from Gallant Fox’s first crop of foals. WW and Belair would dominate the 1930s, winning three Kentucky Derbies, two Preakness Stakes, and five Belmont Stakes in that decade. And that is a very short list of Belair’s accomplishments.

WW and Elsie would have four daughters before son Billy came along in 1920. When WW died in 1953, Billy inherited Belair Stud, including a colt named Nashua, the last champion that WW bred. Upon Billy’s death only two years later, Nashua would be sold for a then-record $1,251,200. Elise and daughter Edith would go on to race a few horses of their own in the Belair silks.

WW’s death in 1953 ended a life that had been almost entirely devoted to the Thoroughbred. As a breeder, he had overseen the creation of Belair Stud as one of the country’s premiere breeders while also building a championship stable. As chairman of the Jockey Club, he had overseen the expansion of and technological revolution within the sport of kings. During his tenure, starting gates, radio broadcasts, and more became fixtures of American horse racing. One of his final accomplishments as chairman was the repeal of the Jersey Act, which prevented most American-bred Thoroughbreds from being registered as pure-bred in the UK.

In 2016, over 50 years after his death, WW was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame as a Pillar of the Turf. Indeed his many contributions to the sport merit his status as a Pillar, his tireless work on behalf of horse racing contributing to its expansion in the 1930s and 1940s. Additionally, Saratoga holds the Woodward Stakes for three-year-olds and up each August, a 1 1/8-mile race named for WW. The Woodward counts champions like Kelso, Cigar, Easy Goer, and more as winners, a fitting tribute to the man who championed horse racing in so many ways.

Happy Birthday to you, William Woodward, and thank you for all that you gave to our sport in your lifetime!