Jr. for whom he won back-to-back Belmont Stakes in 1916 and 1917. He also met with great success training for Rancocas Stable owned by wealthy oil industrialist Harry F. Sinclair. For Sinclair he won three Belmont Stakes with Grey Lag in 1921, Zev in 1923 and Mad Play in 1924. In an era before the Triple Crown had any significance, Hildreth only entered a few horses in the Kentucky Derby because of the time restraints for the long journey to Kentucky. As such, David J. Leary is listed as the trainer of Zev for his win in the 1923 Kentucky Derby. Back in New York, in October of that year, Zev defeated Epsom Derby winner Papyrus, marking the first time a Kentucky Derby winner defeated an English Derby winner. Twice Sam Hildreth won more races in a year than any other trainer in the United States and was the top money-earning trainer nine times, a record that stood for more than sixty years until broken by D. Wayne Lukas in 1992. Hildreth's seven Belmont Stakes victories ranks him second only to James G. Rowe, Sr. and five times his horses were chosen American Horse of the Year, the highest honor in thoroughbred horse racing. In 1925, Hildreth co-wrote an article with James R. Crowell titled "Down the Stretch" for The Saturday Evening Post. The two then collaborated on a history of American racing in a book titled "The Spell of the Turf" published in 1926 by J. B. Lippincott & Co. of Philadelphia. In this book, he named Purchase as one of the greatest horses he ever trained. After forty-three years as a horse trainer, Sam Hildreth died at a hospital in Manhattan, New York following an unsuccessful operation for an intestinal disorder. He was buried in Greenridge Cemetery, Saratoga Springs, New York. In 1955, Sam Hildreth was posthumously inducted into the newly formed National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. References Hildreth, Samuel C. and Crowell, James R. The Spell of the Turf: The Story of American Racing (1926) Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott & Co. Bowen, Edward L. Masters of the Turf: Ten Trainers Who Dominated Horse Racing's Golden Age (2007) Eclipse Press () 1866 births 1929 deaths Sportspeople from Independence, Missouri American horse trainers American racehorse owners and breeders United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Burials at Greenridge Cemetery