budd doble
Born in May 1843 in Philadelphia, Budd Doble came from a trotting horse family. His father John, known as "Uncle Billy," and three brothers (William, Frank and Charles) were all famous in their own right. At the age of twenty-three, Doble was selected to ride Dexter and he made a champion of him, mostly under saddle, but also to high-wheel and wagon. He started Dexter in thirty-five races in 1866 and won thirty-four of them. After Robert Bonner bought Dexter, Doble obtained Goldsmith Maid and for over ten years won approximately $350,000 with her, lowering the world record seven times from Dexter's 2:17 1/4 to 2:14. Next came Axtell and Nancy Hanks, whom Doble campaigned all over the country, reducing the record three more times to 2:04. His name became so famous that author Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote about him: "Budd Doble, whose catarrhal name so fills the nasal trump of fame." The famed trainer/driver married Clara Baldwin (daughter of the founder of the Santa Anita Racetrack) in 1873. Clara was a close friend of famous Western lawman Wyatt Earp and his wife Josephine. In 1924 Doble was hired by E. F. Whittier to come to California to train trotters for his famous Hemet Stock Farm. When Budd Doble died on March 29, 1926 he was still active as a trainer and a race judge as well as having appeared in silent movies.
Published in the Harness Racing Museum's 1994 book, The Immortals