T. J. Healey

{{Short description|American racehorse trainer (1866–1944)}} {{Infobox horseracing personality |name = Thomas J. Healey |image = |caption = |occupation = [[Horse trainer]] | birth_place = [[Fordham, Bronx|Fordham]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[United States]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1866|07|16}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1944|10|07|1866|07|16}} | death_place = [[Holmdel, New Jersey]], United States | resting_place = |career wins = |race = [[Daisy Stakes]] (1896, 1897) [[Tidal Stakes]] (1899) [[Spring Stakes (Sheepshead Bay)|Spring Stakes]] (1900, 1905) [[Lawrence Realization Stakes]] (1901) [[Withers Stakes]] (1901, 1930, 1933) [[New Rochelle Handicap]] (1904) [[Rosebuds Stakes]] (1904) [[Surf Stakes]] (1904) [[Champlain Handicap]] (1905, 1910, 1927) [[Dolphin Stakes]] (1907) [[Paumonok Handicap]] (1907, 1908) [[Saratoga Handicap]] (1908, 1910) [[Municipal Handicap]] (1909) [[Saratoga Cup]] (1909, 1933) [[Twin City Handicap]] (1909) [[Brighton Handicap]] (1910) [[Durham Cup Stakes|Durham Cup Handicap]] (1911) [[Grey Stakes|Grey Handicap]] (1911) [[Walden Stakes]] (1911) [[Brooklyn Handicap]] (1915, 1928) [[Belmont Futurity Stakes|Futurity Stakes]] (1916, 1929, 1931) [[Great American Stakes]] (1915, 1916, 1930) [[Hopeful Stakes]] (1916, 1935) [[Sanford Stakes]] (1916, 1926) [[Toboggan Handicap]] (1917, 1920, 1932) [[Demoiselle Stakes]] (1925, 1932, 1937) [[Havre de Grace Handicap|Havre de Grace Cup Handicap]] (1925, 1932) [[Jerome Handicap]] (1925) [[Turfway Park Fall Championship Stakes|Latonla Championship Stakes]] (1926) [[Oakdale Handicap]] (1926) Autumn Handicap (1927) [[Autumn Stakes (Canada)|Autumn Stakes]] (1928) [[Sky Classic Stakes|Jockey Club Cup Handicap]] (1927) [[Toronto Cup Stakes|Toronto Cup Handicap]] (1927, 1928, 1929) [[Windsor Hotel Cup Handicap]] (1928) [[Victoria Stakes]] (1929) [[Fashion Stakes]] (1930, 1934) [[Great American Stakes]] (1930) [[Laurel Futurity Stakes|Pimlico Futurity]] (1930, 1931) [[Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes|Arlington Lassie Stakes]] (1931, 1934) [[Matron Stakes (United States)|Matron Stakes]] (1931) [[Saratoga Special Stakes]] (1931) [[Spinaway Stakes]] (1931) [[Woodstock Stakes]] (1931) [[Acorn Stakes]] (1932) [[Alabama Stakes]] (1932) [[Arlington Oaks]] (1932) [[Bay Shore Handicap]] (1932) [[Coaching Club American Oaks]] (1932) [[Jamaica Handicap]] (1932) [[Ladies Handicap]] (1932) [[Metropolitan Handicap]] (1932, 1933) [[Stars and Stripes Turf Handicap|Stars and Stripes Handicap]] (1932) [[Whitney Handicap]] (1932) [[Wilson Stakes]] (1932, 1933) [[Arlington Handicap]] (1933) [[Carter Handicap]] (1933) [[Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap]] (1933) [[Philadelphia Handicap]] (1933, 1934) [[Saratoga Cup]] (1933) [[Suburban Handicap]] (1933) [[Dixie Stakes|Dixie Handicap]] (1934) [[Wood Memorial Stakes]] (1935) '''[[American Classic Races|American Classic Race]] wins:''' [[Preakness Stakes]] (1901, 1922, 1923, 1926, 1929) [[Belmont Stakes]] (1922) |awards = |honors = [[National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame]] (1955) Thomas J. Healey Handicap at [[Garden State Park Racetrack]] |horses = [[Campfire (horse)|Campfire]], [[Display (horse)|Display]], [[Dr. Freeland]], [[Equipoise (horse)|Equipoise]], [[Jabot (horse)|Jabot]], [[Olambala]], [[Pillory (horse)|Pillory]], [[Sunfire (horse)|Sunfire]], [[The Parader]], [[Top Flight]], [[Vigil II|Vigil]] |updated = }} '''Thomas J. Healey''' (July 16, 1866 - October 7, 1944) was an American [[Thoroughbred horse race|Thoroughbred horse racing]] [[National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]] [[horse trainer|trainer]].

Regularly referred to as "T. J." by both his associates and the media,<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/06/22/101393438.pdf ''New York Times'' - June 22, 1904]</ref> Healey was born near the site of [[Fordham University]] in [[Fordham, Bronx|Fordham]], [[New York (state)|New York]]. Growing up he worked on his father's [[Dairy farming|dairy farm]] but rather than cows, his interests centered on Thoroughbred horses. While in his teens he took a job at a racetrack stable and by his early twenties had already begun training horses. In 1888, at [[Brooklyn|Brooklyn's]] [[Gravesend Race Track]], he saddled the first winner of his fifty-four-year career. For the next eighteen years he ran one of the largest public stables in the United States but in 1896 became the trainer for the Montpelier Stable of [[Richard Thornton Wilson, Jr.|Richard T. Wilson, Jr.]], president of [[Saratoga Race Course]]. <ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/06/22/101393438.pdf ''New York Times'' - June 22, 1904]</ref> Among the notable horses he trained for Wilson's stable were: * [[The Parader]] - won the 1901 [[Preakness Stakes]], [[Withers Stakes]], [[Lawrence Realization Stakes|Lawrence Realization Handicap]]; * [[Olambala]] - wins include the 1909 [[Latonia Derby]] and 1910 [[Brighton Handicap|Brighton]] and [[Suburban Handicap]]s; * [[Campfire (horse)|Campfire]] - United States leading money winner in 1916 and [[American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt]]; * [[Hannibal (horse)|Hannibal]] - won 1918 [[Saratoga Special Stakes]], 1919 [[Travers Stakes]]; * [[Pillory (horse)|Pillory]] - won 1922 Preakness and [[Belmont Stakes]]; * Wilderness - won 1925 [[Travers Stakes]] and [[Toronto Cup Stakes|Toronto Cup Handicap]]; * [[Sunfire (horse)|Sunfire]] - won back-to-back runnings of the [[Toronto Cup Stakes|Toronto Cup Handicap]] in 1928–1929.

At the turn of the century, Healey trained horses for several prominent owners. Among them were [[Andrew Miller (publisher)|Andrew Miller]] and [[Walter J. Salmon, Sr.]] Healey won his third Preakness Stakes with Salmon, Sr.'s colt [[Vigil II|Vigil]] in 1923. During the 1920s and into the first part of the 1930s, T. J. Healey also trained horses owned by [[Walter M. Jeffords, Sr.|Walter and Sarah Jeffords]]. For them, he won his fourth and fifth Preakness Stakes with: * [[Display (horse)|Display]] - won the 1926 Preakness Stakes, the 1927 [[Toronto Cup Stakes|Toronto Cup]], [[Sky Classic Stakes|Jockey Club Cup]], and [[Washington Handicap]]s, the 1928 [[Autumn Stakes (Canada)|Autumn]] and [[Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap]]s * [[Dr. Freeland]] - won the 1929 Preakness Stakes, 1931 Yorktown Handicap

Richard T. Wilson, Jr. died in December 1929 and Healey was hired by [[Harry Payne Whitney]]<ref>[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0915FE385A167A93C5A91789D85F448385F9 ''New York Times'' - February 7, 1930]</ref> and his son, [[Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1930/01/05/archives/whitney-appoints-tj-healey-trainer-veteran-conditioner-of-horses-to.html ''New York Times'' - January 5, 1930 article titled "WHITNEY APPOINTS T.J. HEALEY TRAINER"]</ref> Over a four-year period, T. J. Healey won a record $1,453,868 with Whitney runners. Among the most famous horses he race conditioned for Whitney were: * [[Top Flight]] - [[American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly]] (1931) and [[American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly]] (1932), [[National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame|U.S. Racing Hall of Fame]] inductee * [[Equipoise (horse)|Equipoise]] - [[American Horse of the Year]] 1932–33, U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee

Thomas J. Healey retired from training in 1941 after which he served as a steward for the New Jersey State Racing Association. He died at age 78 on October 7, 1944.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1944/10/08/archives/t-j-healey-dies-racing-figure-78-trainer-of-horses-for-famous.html October 8, 1944 New York times article titled T. J. Healey Dies, Racing Figure, 78]</ref> Following its formation at [[Saratoga Springs, New York]], in 1955 Thomas J. Healey was part of the inaugural class of inductees to the [[National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame|U.S. Racing Hall of Fame]].<ref>[https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/trainer/thomas-j-healey ''U.S. Racing Hall of Fame'' Thomas J. Healey] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210226072431/https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/trainer/thomas-j-healey |date=February 26, 2021}}</ref>

==John A. Healey== At the time of his death, Thomas J. Healey and his wife Margaret had five daughters and a son, John A. Healey. Known as Jack, the younger Healey worked as an assistant with his father and often was responsible for overseeing a string of racehorses competing at tracks outside their New York/New Jersey base.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121102150204/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/395954751.html?dids=395954751:395954751&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+10,+1934&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Equipoise+Leaves+Kentucky+Friday+for+Santa+Anita+Training+Stables&pqatl=google ''Los Angeles Times'' - December 10, 1934]</ref> When the new [[Santa Anita Park]] opened in [[Arcadia, California]] in 1935, Jack Healey was sent with a string of horses by stable owner C. V. Whitney to compete there during the winter racing season. Jack Healey won the 1935 [[San Carlos Handicap]], [[San Gabriel Handicap]], and [[San Vicente Stakes]].

Jack Healey made his home at Boxwood Farm in [[Cockeysville, Maryland]]. After his father's retirement, he was hired by Harry & Jane du Pont Lunger of [[Wilmington, Delaware]] to take charge of their [[Jane du Pont Lunger#Christiana Stables|Christiana Stables]]. Less than two months after he won the 1947 [[Modesty Handicap|Modesty Stakes]] at [[Washington Park Race Track]] in [[Chicago]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121102150220/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/474056532.html?dids=474056532:474056532&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+01,+1947&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=Sea+Snack+Takes+$25,000+Modesty+Stakes&pqatl=google ''Chicago Tribune'' - Jul 1, 1947]</ref> Jack Healey fell ill and died at age forty-three on September 8, 1947, at [[Johns Hopkins Hospital]] in [[Baltimore, Maryland]] .<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1947/09/09/archives/john-a-healey.html ''New York Times'' - September 9, 1947]</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Healey, T. J.}} [[Category:1866 births]] [[Category:1944 deaths]] [[Category:American racehorse trainers]] [[Category:United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees]] [[Category:Sportspeople from the Bronx]]