George D. Widener, Jr.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Dunton Widener, Jr. (March 11, 1889 - December 8, 1971) was an American businessman and a Thoroughbred racehorse owner who is one of the only four people ever designated "Exemplars of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
Born to the prominent and wealthy Widener family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his grandfather was the Philadelphia traction magnate Peter A. B. Widener (1834-1915). George Jr. was the son of Eleanor Elkins and her husband, George Dunton Widener and a brother to Harry Elkins Widener (b. 1885) and Eleanor Widener (b. 1891). At age twenty-one, he lost both his father and his brother when the RMS Titanic sank in the Atlantic on her maiden voyage on April 15, 1912.
Greatly influenced by his uncle Joseph E. Widener, head of New York's Belmont Park and builder of Miami, Florida's Hialeah Park racetrack, George D. Widener, Jr. became involved in Thoroughbred horse racing. He owned Old Kenney Farm (now Green Gates Farm) in Lexington, Kentucky.
From 1960 to 1968 he served as president of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
George D. Widener Jr. died in 1971 at his Erdenheim Farm outside of Philadelphia. The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine's George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the New Bolton Center is name in his honor.
 |
This horse racing biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
