Richard Thornton Wilson, Jr.

Infobox_Person
name = Richard T. Wilson, Jr.


imagesize =
caption =
birth_date = September 11, 1866
birth_place = New York City, New York
United States flagicon|USA
death_date = December, 1929
death_place = New York City
resting_place =
residence = New York City
Palmetto Bluff, South Carolina
education =
occupation = Banker/businessman
Racehose owner/breeder
party =
spouse = Marion Steadman Mason
children = Marion, Louisa
parents = Richard Thornton Wilson &
Melissa Clementine Johnson
religion =

Richard Thornton Wilson, Jr. September 11, 1866 - December, 1929)was an American banker and businessman who was a prominent figure in Thoroughbred horse racing in the early decades of the 20th Century.

Wilson was born in New York City one of five surviving children of Melissa Clementine Johnson and her husband Richard T. Wilson, a multimillionaire investment banker originally from Loudoun, Virginia who served as the Commissary General for the Confederate States of America. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/opinion/nyregionopinions/15CIfromson.html]

Richard Wilson, Jr. followed in his father's footseps and was successful in banking and business. He married Marion Steadman Mason on March 12, 1902 with whom he had daughters Marion and Louisa.

Thoroughbred racing

In 1896, Richard Wilson, Jr. hired Thomas J. Healey to manage his racing stable. Together for three decades, they would win a number of the most important East Coast races including the Travers Stakes three times, the Preakness Stakes twice, and the Belmont Stakes once. Richard Wilson Jr.'s sister, Grace, married Cornelius Vanderbilt III whose sister Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was married to prominent horseman, Harry Payne Whitney. In 1896, Richard Wilson, Jr. and Harry Payne Whitney teamed up with a group of investors to purchase Saratoga Race Course which had fallen into the hands of an undesireable New Jersey brothelkeeper, Gottfried Waldbaum. Richard Wilson then served as president of the Saratoga Racing Association which operated the facility. In 1902, Richard Wilson, Jr. purchased an estate at Palmetto Bluff in South Carolina from John Holbrook Estill where in 1910 he built a mansion and maintained a stable and a blacksmith shop . The home burned down in 1926 and the property was sold. [http://www.palmetto-bluff.com/history_wilson_era.asp]

Among Wilson's successful racehorses were:
* The Parader - won the 1901 Preakness Stakes, Withers Stakes, Lawrence Realization Handicap
* Campfire - United States leading money winner in 1916 and American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt
* Hannibal - won 1918 Saratoga Special Stakes, 1919 Travers Stakes
* Pillory - won 1919 Preakness and Belmont Stakes
* Wilderness - won 1925 Travers Stakes and Toronto Cup Handicap
* Sunfire - won back-to-back runnings of the Toronto Cup Handicap in 1928-1929

References

*
Reeves, Richard Stone & Ashforth, David. "Crown Jewels of Thoroughbred Racing" (1997) Eclipse Press ISBN 978-0939049905