Hedley John Woodhouse was a
CanadianCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
jockey who won the
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
state riding championship in 1953. Born in
VancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
,
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, he began his racing career there in 1937 at the Lansdowne Park racetrack as an apprentice with A.C.T. Stock Farm owned by industrialist Austin C. Taylor. Woodhouse's ability would soon see him racing at tracks along the
West Coast of the United StatesWest Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
and in 1944 he rode
Happy IssueHappy Issue was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who broke the track record for a mile and a quarter on dirt to become the first female horse to win the prestigious Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. Through 2010. only two other females have won the race...
to victory in the
Grade IA graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...
Vanity HandicapThe Vanity Invitational Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in July at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California....
and
Hollywood Gold CupThe Hollywood Gold Cup is an American Grade I stakes race for thoroughbred horses inaugurated in 1938 at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California. It was run as a handicap race until 1997 when it was switched to weight-for-age conditions...
at Hollywood Park Racetrack in
Inglewood, CaliforniaInglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
.
In 1949, Woodhouse rode the
coltA colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....
FishermanFisherman was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred and raced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, a member of the prominent horse-racing Whitney family. He was out of the mare Crawfish and sired by Whitney's Phalanx, the winner of the 1947 Belmont Stakes voted American Champion...
to a 3rd place finish in the
Kentucky DerbyThe Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
, the best result of his four tries between then and 1957. He rode in the
Preakness StakesThe Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on 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 dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
on three occasions, his best finish a 5th in 1951. Racing out of New York tracks in the first part of the 1950s, Hedley Woodhouse won the 1953 New York riding championship with 138 victories, and was runner-up on three occasions.
After finishing 7th in the 1954 Kentucky Derby on "Fisherman", a colt owned by
Cornelius Vanderbilt WhitneyCornelius Vanderbilt Whitney was an American businessman, film producer, writer, and government official, as well as the owner of a leading stable of thoroughbred racehorses....
and trained by
Sylvester VeitchSylvester E. Veitch was a Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse trainer.Veitch began his career in racing as a jockey and trainer in Steeplechase racing. In 1939 he moved to flat racing when he began employment as a trainer with Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney in Kentucky...
, Woodhouse came within a neck of winning the
Belmont StakesThe Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
. His 2nd place finish was his best in the third of the
American Triple CrownThe Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
races.
From being based in New York, Hedley Woodhouse would make his way to the
FloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
racing circuit where remarkably at age 50 he won the 1970 jockey title at
Tropical ParkTropical Park is a urban park in metropolitan Miami, Florida. The park is located just southwest of the intersection of the Palmetto Expressway and Bird Road , just east of South Miami.-History:...
in
MiamiMiami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
. He retired the following year having won 2,642 races. He was inducted into the
British Columbia Sports Hall of FameFor over 40 years, the community has entrusted the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum with the responsibility to collect, preserve, study, and interpret materials that relate to British Columbia’s rich sport history...
in 1979 and the
Canadian Horse Racing Hall of FameThe Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 at the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and thoroughbred horse racing in Canada....
in 1980
Married to Elsie Woodhouse (1919–1998), their son Robert was also a successful jockey, capturing a number of important stakes races on the
New York circuitThe New York Racing Association, Inc. is the not-for-profit corporation that operates the three largest thoroughbred horse-racing tracks in the state of New York. It runs Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, Belmont Park in Elmont, Long Island , and Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga...
. Hedley and Robert Woodhouse are the only father and son to win the
Whitney HandicapThe Whitney Handicap is an American Grade 1 handicap race for Thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and older run at a distance of 1⅛ miles. In 2007, the Breeders' Cup Ltd...
.
Hedley Woodhouse died in 1984.