Dale Baird
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dale Baird | ||
| Occupation: | Horse trainer | |
| Birthplace: | Martinsville, Illinois | |
| Birth date: | April 17, 1935 | |
| Death date: | December 23, 2007 | |
| Career wins: | 9,445 | |
Dale Baird (April 17, 1935 – December 23, 2007) was an American thoroughbred horse racing trainer who also won the most races in that sport.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Born in Martinsville, Illinois, Baird was brought up in the horse racing industry by his father, John I. Baird, who was also a successful horseman. He began his career as a jockey riding on local fair circuits, and turned to training after he grew too big to continue as a jockey. He made his training debut in 1961 at Ellis Park in Henderson, Kentucky and won his first race with a horse named New York. He soon established himself at Waterford Park (now Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort) in Chester, West Virginia and immediately made an impact.[1] Baird-trained horses amassed 9,445 victories over a 46-year career. Perhaps the most amazing thing about Baird's winners were that the majority of his wins were exclusively at Mountaineer and that he owned nearly all of the horses that he trained. He was the nation's leading trainer, by wins, 17 times and was the first trainer to win 300 races in three consecutive years. In 2004, he recorded his 9,000th career training victory and was the first trainer in racing history to reach that plateau. He was honoured with a Special Eclipse Award by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) in 2005, highlighting the milestone and his whole career.[2]
[edit] Hall of Fame
Despite Baird's lofty accomplishments, he has not gained induction into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. This may be attributed to the fact that Baird never won any major stakes races nor competed on any major circuits or that the hall of fame is run by turf writers and has nothing to do with any real horsemen like dale baird (there are no horsemen on the h of f induction commity). Another, more likely, reason is that Baird was responsible for tens of thousands of horses ending up in the slaughterhouse. Horses were disposable commodity to Baird. Many believe that Baird was a an embarrassment to the sport and should not be celebrated. Nearly all of his 46-year career was spent exclusively at Mountaineer.
[edit] Family Involvement
Horse racing continues to dominate the family with Dale's son, Bart, and brothers, Dean and John, also training horses at Mountaineer. John's son, Mike Baird, also trains at Mountaineer.
[edit] Death
On December 23, 2007, Baird died in a car crash that killed two other people. It was believed that high winds caused the empty horse trailer that he was hauling to tip over, causing Baird to lose control of his new 2008 pick-up truck. He was in the midst of another successful year, having saddled 132 winners and collecting purses totalling $2,030,982 in 2007.[3]
