Preston M. Burch
Encyclopedia
Preston Morris Burch was an American
Hall of Fame
Thoroughbred
racehorse trainer
, breeder
, and owner. http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/trainer.asp?ID=238
, he was the son of Hall of Fame trainer, William P. Burch and a nephew of another prominent horseman, Green B. Morris. Both Preston Burch and his brother Selby followed in their father's footsteps. He was greatly influenced by not only his father and uncle, but also by another Hall of Fame trainer, Sam Hildreth
.
Preston Burch began his career in 1902 with the purchase of his first racehorse Stuyve, a bay gelding by Stuyvesant and out of Katie A. (by Hyder Ali). The gelding raced and won in Burch's colors: blue silks with orange cuffs and an orange cap.
Setting up his own public stable in Canada
, Preston Burch trained horses for prominent American owners such as Francis R. Hitchcock and John E. Madden
. When the New York State Legislature under Governor Charles Evans Hughes
outlawed all racetrack betting
it resulted in the closing of every horse racetrack in the state after the end of the 1910 season. Following the state ban, the suddenly out-of-work Preston Burch moved to France
where he was able to make a living training both steeplechase
and flat racing
Thoroughbreds for wealthy American owners Harry LaMontagne, William Astor Chanler
, George P. Eustis, and John Sanford
. Competing at racetracks across Europe, among his successes was a win in the Grand Steeplechase International at Milan
with Harry LaMontagne's horse Sultan VII. His racing career was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I
in which he served in France with the American Field Service
as a volunteer ambulance
driver.
At the end of the War, Preston Burch returned to the United States where he continued to train horses for John Sanford as well as for George Wingfield's Nevada Stock Farm and later for Detroit auto body magnate, Charles T. Fisher
. Burch eventually set up operations on the East coast
with major clients such as Admiral Cary T. Grayson
, Samuel Ross, Walter M. Jeffords, Sr., William duPont, Jr.
, Marion duPont Scott, Donald P. Ross and Deering Howe.
Preston Burch bred a number of successful horses, the most famous of which was the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame filly
Gallorette
foaled in 1942. The following year he took over as head trainer for the highly successful Brookmeade Stable
, owned by Isabel Dodge Sloane
. Running Brookmeade Stable, in 1950 he was the United States' leading money winner. That year he trained the two-year-old colt, Bold
, with whom he would win the 1951 Preakness Stakes
. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=h4cwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3twFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7501,4021317&dq=preston+burch&hl=en
In 1918 Preston Burch saddled 1916 Kentucky Derby
winner George Smith
to victory in the Bowie Handicap at Pimlico Race Course
by defeating two other Kentucky Derby winners. The 1917 winner, Omar Khayyam
, finished vsecond and 1918 winner, Exterminator
, ran third.
Known as someone who never allowed a horse to race unless it was in top condition, Preston Burch was a founding member of the American Trainers Association. He was elected the Association's first president and served for seven years.
In 1953, Blood-Horse Publications
published his book titled "Training Thoroughbred Horses" (ASIN: B000O6YU38). The widely read book was reprinted in 1973, 1976, and again in 1992. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0915F63E5C1A7B93C0A8178BD95F4D8685F9
In 1957, Preston Burch retired after a career that spanned fifty-six years. Under his tutelage, assistant trainers such as Richard E. Handlen
, Burley Parke, and Oscar White
learned the art of conditioning Thoroughbreds and went on to very successful training careers of the own.
Preston Burch was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
in 1963. In 1973, he was the honored guest at the annual Testimonial Dinner given by the Thoroughbred Club of America. He was one of the trainers feature in the 2007 book Masters of the Turf: Ten Trainers Who Dominated Horse Racing's Golden Age by author Edward L. Bowen
. http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Turf-Trainers-Dominated-Racings/dp/1581501498
also became a racehorse trainer. Like his father and grandfather, Elliott Burch had an outstanding career that resulted in his induction in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1980. Another son of Preston Burch, William Preston Burch (1919–1998), was a Longtime executive with Gulfstream Aerospace
whose son Preston M. Burch II is a 1966 graduate of Adelphi University
with a degree in physics
and is the manager of the Hubble Space Telescope
Program and Deputy Associate Director for Astrophysics, NASA
Goddard Space Flight Center
.
Preston Burch was living in Dunn Loring, Virginia
at the time of his death in 1978.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorse trainer
Horse trainer
In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...
, breeder
Horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...
, and owner. http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/trainer.asp?ID=238
Biography
Born in Augusta, GeorgiaAugusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
, he was the son of Hall of Fame trainer, William P. Burch and a nephew of another prominent horseman, Green B. Morris. Both Preston Burch and his brother Selby followed in their father's footsteps. He was greatly influenced by not only his father and uncle, but also by another Hall of Fame trainer, Sam Hildreth
Sam Hildreth
Samuel Clay Hildreth was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer and owner.Born in Independence, Missouri, Sam Hildreth began his training career in 1887, competing at racetracks in the Midwestern United States with such horses as the good racemare Hurley Burley, the dam of...
.
Preston Burch began his career in 1902 with the purchase of his first racehorse Stuyve, a bay gelding by Stuyvesant and out of Katie A. (by Hyder Ali). The gelding raced and won in Burch's colors: blue silks with orange cuffs and an orange cap.
Setting up his own public stable in Canada
Canada
Canada 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...
, Preston Burch trained horses for prominent American owners such as Francis R. Hitchcock and John E. Madden
John E. Madden
John Edward Madden was a prominent AmericanThoroughbred and Standardbred owner, breeder and trainer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He owned Hamburg Place Stud in Lexington, Kentucky and bred five Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winners.He was inducted into the National...
. When the New York State Legislature under Governor Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...
outlawed all racetrack betting
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
it resulted in the closing of every horse racetrack in the state after the end of the 1910 season. Following the state ban, the suddenly out-of-work Preston Burch moved to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
where he was able to make a living training both steeplechase
Steeplechase
Steeplechase may refer to:* Steeplechase, an event in horse racing* SteepleChase, a Danish jazz label* Steeplechase , a 1975 arcade game released by Atari...
and flat racing
Flat racing
Flat racing is a form of Thoroughbred horse racing which is run over a level track at a predetermined distance. It differs from steeplechase racing which is run over hurdles...
Thoroughbreds for wealthy American owners Harry LaMontagne, William Astor Chanler
William A. Chanler
William Astor Chanler was a soldier, explorer, and a U.S. Representative from New York, son of John Winthrop Chanler and Margaret Astor Ward. He was the great-grandson of William Backhouse Astor, Sr. and a descendent of General John Armstrong, Sr...
, George P. Eustis, and John Sanford
John Sanford (1851)
John Sanford was an American businessman, a prominent owner/breeder of Thoroughbred racehorses, and a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York's 20th congressional district.-Early life:...
. Competing at racetracks across Europe, among his successes was a win in the Grand Steeplechase International at Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
with Harry LaMontagne's horse Sultan VII. His racing career was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in which he served in France with the American Field Service
AFS Intercultural Programs
AFS Intercultural Programs was established in 1915 by A. Piatt Andrew, a onetime economics professor at Harvard University and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury...
as a volunteer ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
driver.
At the end of the War, Preston Burch returned to the United States where he continued to train horses for John Sanford as well as for George Wingfield's Nevada Stock Farm and later for Detroit auto body magnate, Charles T. Fisher
Charles T. Fisher
Charles Thomas Fisher was a Catholic American businessman and an automotive pioneer.Born in Norwalk, Ohio, Charles was the second son of Lawrence and Margaret Fisher. The family would grow to include seven boys and four girls...
. Burch eventually set up operations on the East coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
with major clients such as Admiral Cary T. Grayson
Cary Travers Grayson
Admiral Cary Travers Grayson was a surgeon in the United States Navy who served a variety of roles from personal aide to President Woodrow Wilson to chairman of the American Red Cross.-Career:Grayson was born to Dr...
, Samuel Ross, Walter M. Jeffords, Sr., William duPont, Jr.
William duPont, Jr.
William duPont, Jr. was an American businessman and banker and a prominent figure in the sport of thoroughbred horse racing. A member of the Delaware Du Pont family, he was the son of William du Pont and Annie Rogers , and brother to horsewoman, Marion.In 1919, he married Jean Liseter Austin...
, Marion duPont Scott, Donald P. Ross and Deering Howe.
Preston Burch bred a number of successful horses, the most famous of which was the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame filly
Filly
A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....
Gallorette
Gallorette
Gallorette was a Maryland-bred chestnut thoroughbred filly who became a Hall of Fame race horse. Sired by Challenger II, out of Gallette, Gallorette's damsire was Sir Gallahad III. Even so, her dam, Gallette, had once exchanged hands for $250 and was used as a hack. -Breeding:Trainer Preston M...
foaled in 1942. The following year he took over as head trainer for the highly successful Brookmeade Stable
Brookmeade Stable
Brookmeade Stable was a successful thoroughbred horse racing stable owned by heiress and socialite Isabel Dodge Sloane. Sloane first won using the name Brookmeade Stable at the Manly Memorial Steeplechase at Pimlico in 1924....
, owned by Isabel Dodge Sloane
Isabel Dodge Sloane
Isabel Cleves Dodge Sloane was an American heiress and socialite who owned a major Thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm....
. Running Brookmeade Stable, in 1950 he was the United States' leading money winner. That year he trained the two-year-old colt, Bold
Bold (horse)
Bold was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that is best remembered for winning the 1951 Preakness Stakes in a long shot victory and for being struck by lightning at the age of four while pastured at his Upperville, Virginia farm....
, with whom he would win the 1951 Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The 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...
. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=h4cwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3twFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7501,4021317&dq=preston+burch&hl=en
In 1918 Preston Burch saddled 1916 Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The 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...
winner George Smith
George Smith (horse)
George Smith was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and was the winner of the 1916 Kentucky Derby. George Smith was a jet black colt by the imported British Stallion Out of Reach by the imported British mare, Consuelo II. His grandsire, Persimmon, was a son of the great English racer and sire, St....
to victory in the Bowie Handicap at Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico Race Course
Pimlico Race Course is a horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Olde Ben Pimlico's Tavern in London...
by defeating two other Kentucky Derby winners. The 1917 winner, Omar Khayyam
Omar Khayyam (horse)
Omar Khayyam was a British-born Thoroughbred racehorse who was sold as a yearling to an American racing partnership and who became the first foreign-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby...
, finished vsecond and 1918 winner, Exterminator
Exterminator (horse)
Exterminator was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and the winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby, and in 1922 won Horse of the Year honors....
, ran third.
Known as someone who never allowed a horse to race unless it was in top condition, Preston Burch was a founding member of the American Trainers Association. He was elected the Association's first president and served for seven years.
In 1953, Blood-Horse Publications
Blood-Horse Publications
Blood-Horse Publications is an American multimedia publishing house focused on horse-related magazines.Blood-Horse Publications is located in Lexington, Kentucky. Their book-publishing arm is Eclipse Press...
published his book titled "Training Thoroughbred Horses" (ASIN: B000O6YU38). The widely read book was reprinted in 1973, 1976, and again in 1992. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0915F63E5C1A7B93C0A8178BD95F4D8685F9
In 1957, Preston Burch retired after a career that spanned fifty-six years. Under his tutelage, assistant trainers such as Richard E. Handlen
Richard E. Handlen
Richard E. "Dick" Handlen was an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer whom the March 15, 1937 edition of the Los Angeles Times called "one of the best trainers in America"...
, Burley Parke, and Oscar White
Oscar White
Oscar White was an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer who twice won the third leg of the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing...
learned the art of conditioning Thoroughbreds and went on to very successful training careers of the own.
Preston Burch was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
in 1963. In 1973, he was the honored guest at the annual Testimonial Dinner given by the Thoroughbred Club of America. He was one of the trainers feature in the 2007 book Masters of the Turf: Ten Trainers Who Dominated Horse Racing's Golden Age by author Edward L. Bowen
Edward L. Bowen
Edward L. Bowen is an American Thoroughbred horse racing historian and author and the president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, an institution involved in funding equine research....
. http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Turf-Trainers-Dominated-Racings/dp/1581501498
Family
Preston Burch's son ElliottJ. Elliott Burch
John Elliott Burch was an American National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Four of his horses were inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.-Biography:...
also became a racehorse trainer. Like his father and grandfather, Elliott Burch had an outstanding career that resulted in his induction in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1980. Another son of Preston Burch, William Preston Burch (1919–1998), was a Longtime executive with Gulfstream Aerospace
Gulfstream Aerospace
Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation is a producer of several models of jet aircraft. Gulfstream has been a unit of General Dynamics since 1999.The company has produced more than 1,500 aircraft for corporate, government, private, and military customers around the world...
whose son Preston M. Burch II is a 1966 graduate of Adelphi University
Adelphi University
Adelphi University is a private, nonsectarian university located in Garden City, in Nassau County, New York, United States. It is the oldest institution of higher education on Long Island. For the sixth year, Adelphi University has been named a “Best Buy” in higher education by the Fiske Guide to...
with a degree in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and is the manager of the Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
Program and Deputy Associate Director for Astrophysics, NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Goddard Space Flight Center
Goddard Space Flight Center
The Goddard Space Flight Center is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center. GSFC employs approximately 10,000 civil servants and contractors, and is located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. GSFC,...
.
Preston Burch was living in Dunn Loring, Virginia
Dunn Loring, Virginia
Dunn Loring is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,803 at the 2010 census.-History:...
at the time of his death in 1978.
Further reading
- Preston M. Burch at the United States' National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
- TIME magazine obituary for Preston Morris Burch
- Bowen, Edward L.Edward L. BowenEdward L. Bowen is an American Thoroughbred horse racing historian and author and the president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, an institution involved in funding equine research....
Masters of the Turf: Ten Trainers Who Dominated Horse Racing's Golden Age (2007) Eclipse Press ISBN 978-1581501490