Sam Hildreth

Sam Hildreth. Admonished by his father that one could not settle down if he wanted to be a racing man, Sam Hildreth wrote years later of such family sojourns as himself and all nine brothers and sisters being taken by wagon train from Missouri to Texas. His father had about a dozen race horses and had heard of an owner in Texas who wanted some action. The Hildreth star of the time, Red Morocco, was called on to oblige. Sam Hildreth was ever held by the "The Spell of the Turf," as his autobiography was titled. He was a jockey and blacksmith before forming a stable of his own in the East. When racing was shut down in New York, he ventured to France to train steeplechasers. Hildreth was America's leading trainer in earnings nine times between 1909 and 1924 and the leading owner three times. He later trained for oilman Harry Sinclair's Rancocas stable, which led the owners list three years. Among the many champions Hildreth trained was Zev, which defeated the English derby winner Papyrus in a pioneering international match race in New York in 1923.