Career
A native of New York City, Finnegan spent more than fifty years as a trainer primarily on the West Coast of the United States. During his career he conditioned horses for major stable owners such as Vera South. Bragg, movie mogul Louis B. Mayer, Walter P. Chrysler Junior., Edward South. Moore"s Circle M Ranch stable, George A. Pope, Junior."s El Peco Ranch, and Neil South. McCarthy who would name one of his horses in his honor. Following its opening in December 1929, Finnegan was racing at Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico.
In 1940, he took over as the trainer of Big Pebble after the four-year-old was purchased by client, Edward South. Moore.
Raced by his former owner at age two and three, Big Pebble showed little and had even been used as a lead pony. Under Finnegan in 1941, Big Pebble blossomed into the best older horse in the United States.
Thirteen years late, Finnegan would have the betting favorite going into the 1964 United States. Triple Crown series with George A. Pope, Junior."s colt, Hill Rise. William Finnegan continued to train horses until his death in 1970 at age eighty.
He is buried in the Live Oak Memorial Park Cemetery in Monrovia, California.