Woody Stephens

Horseracing personalities infobox
name = Woody Stephens


caption = Woody Stephens 1985 autobiography
occupation = Trainer
birthplace = Stanton, Kentucky, U.S.
birth date = September 1, 1913
death date = August 22, 1998
career wins = Not found
race = Ashland Stakes (1949, 1957, 1959, 1963)
Blue Grass Stakes (1949, 1954, 1974)
Sanford Stakes (1954, 1971, 1987)
Breeders' Futurity Stakes (1954, 1975, 1983, 1987)
Withers Stakes (1955, 1987)
Kentucky Oaks (1959, 1960, 1963, 1978, 1981)
Washington, D.C. International Stakes (1959, 1960)
Arlington Handicap (1960)
Aqueduct Handicap (1960, 1973)
Metropolitan Handicap (1960, 1982)
Saratoga Special Stakes (1961, 1981, 1983)
Belmont Futurity Stakes (1962, 1967, 1983, 1986)
Champagne Stakes (1962, 1983, 1987)
Suburban Handicap (1964)
Washington Park Handicap (1966)
Jim Dandy Stakes (1968, 1982, 1985)
Adirondack Stakes (1969, 1979, 1984)
Spinaway Stakes (1969, 1976, 1979)
Gazelle Stakes (1970, 1984)
Hopeful Stakes (1970)
Arlington Matron Handicap (1972)
Florida Derby (1974, 1984)
Remsen Stakes (1975, 1977, 1989)
Saranac Stakes (1975, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1988)
Alabama Stakes (1978)
Wood Memorial Stakes (1978)
Test Stakes (1978)
American Derby (1979, 1985)
Pennsylvania Derby (1979, 1984, 1988)
Acorn Stakes (1981, 1984, 1986)
Diana Handicap (1981)
E. P. Taylor Stakes (1981)
Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes (1983, 1984)
Cotillion Handicap (1983)
Hempstead Handicap (1983, 1986)
Secretariat Stakes (1984)
Yellow Ribbon Stakes (1984)
Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (1985, 1986)
Jockey Club Gold Cup (1986, 1987)
Peter Pan Stakes (1986)
Haskell Invitational Handicap (1988)
Travers Stakes (1988)

American Classic Race wins:
Kentucky Derby (1974, 1984)
Preakness Stakes (1952)
Belmont Stakes (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986)
awards = Big Sport of Turfdom Award (1982)
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer (1983)
honours = United States' Racing Hall of Fame (1976)
Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park
horses = Blue Man, Bald Eagle, Never Bend, Bold Bidder, Danzig, Sensational, De La Rose, Devil's Bag, Conquistador Cielo, Caveat, Swale, Creme Fraiche, Danzig Connection, Forty Niner
updated = CURRENTTIME, CURRENTDAYNAME CURRENTMONTHNAME CURRENTDAY CURRENTYEAR (UTC)

Woody Stephens (September 1, 1913 - August 22, 1998) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing Hall of Fame trainer.

Born Woodford Cefis Stephens in Stanton, Kentucky, he first started as a jockey at age 16 but within a few years switched to training horses. After working as an assistant for several years, in the late 1930s he started training on his own, taking on horses from various owners. Near the end of the 1950's he was hired by the wealthy Harry Guggenheim as head trainer for his Cain Hoy Stable. The moved proved very successful, with Stephens training several champions and winning a number of major stakes races including the Kentucky Oaks three times. He remained with the Guggenheim operation for ten years before returning to run his own stable again in 1966.

In a career that spanned seven decades, Woody Stephens trained eleven Eclipse Award winners and his horses won over a hundred Grade 1 stakes races. Among his most notable was Henryk de Kwiatkowski's colt Conquistador Cielo, the winner of the 1982 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. Although Stephens trained horses that won the Kentucky Oaks for fillies five times, plus the Kentucky Derby twice and the Preakness Stakes once, he is most remembered for winning an unprecedented five straight Belmont Stakes between 1982 and 1986.

Woody Stephens was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1976. In 1983, he won the Eclipse Award as the top trainer in the United States. Although always seen as an ordinary guy in rumpled clothes, his earnings from racing plus investments in successful breeding stock made him a very wealthy man.

Woody Stephens died in 1998 in Miami Lakes, Florida from complications of chronic emphysema eight days shy of his 85th birthday.

U.S. Triple Crown race winners:
*Kentucky Derby:
**1974 : Cannonade
**1984 : Swale

*Preakness Stakes:
**1952 : Blue Man

*Belmont Stakes:
**1982 : Conquistador Cielo
**1983 : Caveat
**1984 : Swale
**1985 : Creme Fraiche
**1986 : Danzig Connection

References

* Woody Stephens autobiography "Guess I'm Lucky! My Life in Horseracing" (1985) Doubleday ISBN 0-385-19568-0
* [http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/trainer.asp?ID=290 Woodford Stephens at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame]