How a legendary trainer known as ‘The Bald Eagle’ excelled for five decades

Some might say that Charlie Whittingham was the best and most famous trainer California has ever known.

As true as that may be, Whittingham deserves to be seen in a context much larger than even a state the size of California.

Although synonymous with the Golden State, Whittingham was undoubtedly one of the greatest trainers in the long and glorious history of thoroughbred racing anywhere in the United States.

In a record-breaking career spanning almost 50 years, Whittingham won 2,533 races. His horses earned $109,206,777, which still ranks 28th^e on the all-time list through November 9, 2025, even though he last saddled a horse on April 18, 1999, just two days before his death at age 86.

Known as “The Bald Eagle,” Whittingham won more than 250 stakes and was the all-time leading trainer at Santa Anita Park and Hollywood Park at the time of his death.

He trained 11 champions.

He won the Kentucky Derby twice. He first did so in 1986 with Ferdinand, when he was 73 years old and hailed as the oldest trainer to ever win the Run for the Roses. Three years later he did it again, capturing the Derby and the Preakness with eventual Horse of the Year Sunday Silence. (Note: Art Sherman won the Derby in 2014 with California Chrome at age 77, passing Whittingham as the oldest trainer to win the race.)

Seven times he led the country in revenues and three times he received the Eclipse Award as the best trainer of the year.

It’s a long list of accomplishments, but one that befits a coach as respected as Charles E. Whittingham.

Born on April 13, 1913 in Chula Vista, California, Whittingham started out as a hot hiker in Tijuana, Mexico. Although he obtained his trainer’s license in 1934, he was introduced to famed trainer Horatio Luro by actor Bing Crosby and served as Luro’s assistant until 1950.

His first US champion was Porterhouse in 1953, but it would not be his last. Whittingham guided Ack Ack to Horse of the Year honors in 1971 and he continued to dominate the California scene for more than two decades.

The 1974 Hall of Fame inductee’s resume included 14 victories in the San Juan Capistrano, nine in the Santa Anita Handicap and eight in the Hollywood Gold Cup.

As he approached 70, the only glaring omission from his resume was Triple Crown success. That hurdle was cleared in 1986, when Whittingham put Bill Shoemaker on Ferdinand and the legendary 54-year-old rider took him from last place to win a colorful edition of the Derby that was sure to be one for the ages.

Three years later, Whittingham returned to Churchill Downs with Santa Anita Derby winner Sunday Silence, who was expected to take a backseat to the heavily favored Easy Goer. But Whittingham had Sunday Silence in top condition for the run for the roses and Sunday Silence beat Easy Goer by 2 ½ lengths.

Two weeks later in the Preakness Stakes, Sunday Silence defeated Easy Goer again, this time by a nose in one of the most exciting finishes of the Triple Crown.

Easy Goer thwarted Sunday Silence’s bid to become the 12th^e Triple Crown winner when eight lengths ahead in the Belmont Stakes.

But in November, with Horse of the Year honors on the line, Sunday Silence held off a late charge from Easy Goer to take the Breeders’ Cup Classic neck-and-neck in what track announcer Tom Durkin described as “a racing epic.” (Take a look back at their classic rivalry race by race in this article.)

Although he was 76 at the time of Sunday Silence’s Triple Crown exploits, Whittingham’s career was far from over. After Sunday Silence retired, Whittingham won the 1993 Santa Anita Handicap, the 1990 Arlington Million and the 1991 Japan Cup, among others.

In his final years, he continued to train even while battling leukemia, the disease that ultimately claimed the beloved Hall of Famer’s life in 1999.

Now, 26 years later, he remains one of the sport’s most famous and remembered coaches – in California and all of the other 49 states.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated. It was originally published in June 2016.

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Fun facts

• He trained 20 horses that earned at least $1 million.
• His son Michael was also a trainer and won the Breeders’ Cup Classic with Skywalker in 1986.
• There is a bronze bust of Whittingham in Santa Anita’s East Paddock Gardens, as well as a plaque in his honor in Santa Anita’s Barn 4, where his horses were stabled. Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella is now based in Barn 4.
• In the 1986 Belmont Stakes, the top three finishers were Danzig Connection, trained by Woody Stephens, who was 72; Johns Treasure, trained by Walter Kelley, who was 79; and Ferdinand, trained by 73-year-old Whittingham.
• A day before the 1989 Belmont Stakes, Sunday Silence got up and kicked Whittingham in the head, bruising the trainer’s right temple.
• Whittingham’s champions were: Porterhouse (2-year-old colt, 1953), Ack Ack (Horse of the Year, 1971), Turkish Pants (3-year-old female, 1971), Cougar II (Turf Horse, 1972), Perrault (Male Turf Horse, 1982), Kennedy Road (Canada’s Horse of the Year, 1973), Estrapade (female Turf Horse, 1986), Ferdinand, (Older male, Horse of the Year, 1987), Sunday Silence (3-year-old colt, Horse of the Year, 1989), Miss Alleged (Female Turf Horse, 1991) and Flawlessly (Female Turf Horse, 1992-1993).