Accomplished horseman David Whiteley died at his home in Camden, South Carolina, Aug. 12, according to a report originally published in the Daily Racing Form. The son of Hall of Fame conditioner Frank Whiteley, the younger Whiteley trained numerous Grade I winners, including Revidere, 1979 Belmont S. winner Coastal, Waya (Fr) and Just a Game (Ire). Whiteley was 73 at the time of his passing.
A nominee to the Hall of Fame ballot over the last three years consecutively, Whiteley won 45 graded stakes races and 62 overall stakes. Revidere, Waya, and Just a Game garnered year-end championship honors, while Coastal is best known for his upset of third-finishing Spectacular Bid in the 1979 Belmont. Whiteley retired from training in 1995, culminating a 25-year career, with 678 lifetime wins from 2,068 starts–good for a remarkably high overall win rate of 33%–and $11,837,823 in earnings.
Whiteley is survived by his daughter, Kyle.
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