Why David Whiteley?
So let's talk about this year's Hall of Fame. Sergio finally won a major, the 76'rs don't make the post season. Again. Big racing weekend yielded bigger Derby confusion. Something about John Shirreffs going 1-3 in the Santa Anita Derby says, 'Let's talk Hall.' Five great jocks, three wicked fast horses and then the trainers. Casse, Shirreffs, and Whiteley (the other Whiteley). And the other Whiteley is the guy I like for the gig.
Look don't get me wrong, Casse and Shirreffs are the men. Casse has over 2000 wins, three Breeders' Cups, and these last few years seems to be in every feature every Saturday. But before 2015 he had only (only?) five Grade I wins, has no Classic wins yet and in spite of passing his trainers test over 30 years ago still seems like the new kid on the block. He can wait. Sorry Mark.
Shirreffs–different profile, equally as deserving. Boutique trainer, smaller barn with big results. Over 30 Grade Is, The Derby with Giacomo, and Zenyatta. And Zenyatta! Vietnam vet, nice guy, big time trainer. Deserves to be there.
But I like Whiteley. The guy that half the readership hasn't even heard of. Now I know I'm gonna sound like the old guy at your dad's barbershop talking about the time Joe Adcock hit four homers and a double, but trust me David Whiteley was all that. Started training at 25, quit at 50. Been gone from the stage for over 20 years. But boys and girls when he was there, he was great.
Let's have a look. 32% winners lifetime in an era when win % wasn't a big deal. In the middle of that span, between 1974 and 1983 David had one of the great decades of any trainer ever. His small barn yielded three champions, a bucket of Grade Is and Coastal's trouncing of the great Spectacular Bid in the 1979 Belmont. His work with the sore footed Highland Blade was magical.
From the time he left Camden, SC with the dogwoods til he returned with the frost, Whiteley won with better then one out of four and the NYRA punters bet on him three out of four. He was the guy you bet on when nothing else was working, he was the guy that won the feature. He got you home. No claimers, no soft spots, only ran against the best. And he beat'm. He was Koufax–a shooting star. When the times changed and the well ran dry he stayed around for a few years before he packed up his cigarette holder and his genius and went home for good.
In some ways David Whiteley was the end of the line. The last of an era of horsemen that made their name training whatever the van man dropped off and hoped for the best. Homebred wide-eyed 2-year-olds fresh off the farm.
Some days they were by Damascus and some days they were by Pronto. You made the best out of what walked down the ramp. No auction toppers. No 1/4 miles in :20 and change. Just good pedigrees and great expectations. And for a little pocket of time, from Nixon to Reagan, when Bowa was at short, David A Whiteley made those dreams come true. If I had a vote, he'd get it.
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