Woodward, William, , New York 1876 1953 Male Banker Horseman banker and horseman, was born in New York City, the son of William Woodward and Sarah Abigail Rodman Woodward.
In 1888, when he was twelve years old, his father took him to Belmont Park racetrack, where he saw Sir Dixon win the Belmont Stakes, a race that his own horses were to win six times.
Woodward graduated from Groton School in 1894 and received the B. A. from Harvard College in 1898 and the M. A. in 1899.
While in England he frequently attended the races at Ascot and Newmarket.
After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1901, he became secretary to Joseph H. Choate, United States ambassador to the Court of St. James's--for, as the banker Silas Strawn remarked, he was "too wise to engage in the practice of law. "
Woodward also inherited from his uncle the historic stud farm Belair, some twenty miles southwest of Annapolis, Md.
To Belair had come the first English Thoroughbred racehorses imported into Maryland: the stallion Spark (1747) and the mare Queen Mab (1747), followed by Othello (1755) and the great mare Selima (1750), a name perpetuated in one of Maryland's principal present-day races.
During World War I a friend in France bought five foundation brood mares for Woodward.
In 1925, with A. B. Hancock and others, he purchased, also in France, the outstanding stallion Sir Gallahad III, for the modest sum of $25, 000.
He also bred Happy Gal, the best two-year-old filly of 1932; Faireno, cochampion three-year-old of 1932; Granville, horse of the year at the age of three in 1936; Vagrancy, champion three-year-old filly of 1942; and Nashua, foaled in 1952, which for his son William Woodward, Jr. , was two-year-old champion of 1954 and horse of the year of 1955.
He said: "Jim, all I want you to do is to get the horses into condition, race them, and tell me if they are sound and fast.
I'll get the blood. "
In 1917 Woodward was elected a member of the Jockey Club, which kept the American Thoroughbred Stud Book and at that time was the recognized source for the rules of racing; in 1930 he became chairman of the Board of Stewards, serving until 1950.
During his term as chairman, racing advanced from a slightly shady gambling pursuit to a leading spectator sport.
Woodward particularly resented the "Jersey Act" in 1913, which, reversing long-established practice, barred from registration in the British Stud Book horses registered only in the American Stud Book.
He spoke out strongly against the act, which was repealed in 1949.
To demonstrate the racing class of American Thoroughbreds, from 1930 Woodward employed Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort as his British trainer, sending him some of his best yearlings each year.
This arrangement produced many victors in the English classics, including St. Leger winners Boswell (1936) and Black Tarquin (1948), Oaks winner Hycilla (1944), and Ascot Gold Cup winner Flares (1938).
His widow presented the Baltimore Museum of Art with a wing to house his racing trophies and his remarkable collection of portraits of English racehorses, including George Stubbs' portrait (ca. 1770) of Eclipse with Mr. Wildman and his two sons.
He was a conservative (a Victorian, as he put it), believing strongly that racing should be a sport, not a business.
He inherited his uncle's bank stock in 1910 and was elected president of the bank in the same year.
He became a vice-president in 1904, the year of his marriage to Elizabeth Ogden Cryder of New York; they had five children.
He became a vice-president in 1904, the year of his marriage to Elizabeth Ogden Cryder of New York; they had five children.
Woodward returned to New York in 1903 and went to work for the Hanover Bank, of which his uncle, James T. Woodward, was president.
