Vance Longden

Horseracing personalities infobox
name = Vance Longden


caption =
occupation = Trainer
birthplace = California
birth date = March 14, 1930
death date = January 7, 2003
career wins = Not found
race = Hollywood Gold Cup (1953)
San Gabriel Handicap (1955)
San Juan Capistrano Handicap (1955)
San Luis Obispo Handicap (1954, 1955, 1957)
San Felipe Stakes (1961)
Santa Anita Derby (1961)
San Carlos Handicap (1962)
Santa Anita Maturity (1962)
Santa Anita Handicap (1972)
San Fernando Stakes (1962, 1972)
awards =
honours =
horses = Royal Serenade, St. Vincent
Four-and-Twenty, Triple Bend
updated = March 7, 2007

Vance Longden (March 14, 1930 - January 7, 2003) was an American Thoroughbred horse trainer based in California.

Vance Longden was the son of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey Johnny Longden and his first wife, Helen. He was raised around horses and apprenticed with trainer William Molter. At age twenty-three, Vance Longden was training on his own and using his father to ride some of his horses. Together, they successfully raced a number of horses including the 1953 Hollywood Gold Cup winner Royal Serenade, the1955 U.S. Champion Turf Horse St. Vincent, of which he owned a share, plus Four-and-Twenty, winner of the 1961 Santa Anita Derby. The North American Pari-Mutuel Regulators Association says they are perhaps the only father-son, jockey-trainer duo ever to win major races at major tracks. [http://www.arcimembers.com/PublicPages/2001web/news/2003/021003.pdf]

Longden also raced a few seasons at Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver, British Columbia where he won thirty-six stakes races.In 1961 Vance Longden had two starters in the Kentucky Derby, both finishing off the board.

Vance Londgen battled throat cancer for several years and eventually was only able to speak through the use of a voice box. His illness forced his reirement from racing and he was living in Arcadia, California at the time of his death in 2003.

References

* [http://www.press-enterprise.com/newsarchive/2003/02/24/1046071536.html 2003 article by Stephanie Diaz in "Press-Enterprise"]
* [http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleindex/article.asp?id=13455 "Retired California trainer Vance Longden Dead"]