Robert L. Wheeler

Biography

When C. V. Whitney decided to send a string of horses to the West Coast, he did plenty of research into finding the ideal trainer. After weighing his many options, Whitney selected Robert Wheeler, an ex-cowboy and rodeo rider. Whitney, as he usually did, chose wisely.

“If a horse has anything at all, turn him over to Bob Wheeler and he’ll bring it out,” Whitney said.

Born in 1920 in Nebraska, Wheeler took a job in his teens breaking yearlings at Woolford Farm in Missouri. After spending some time riding on the rodeo circuit, he turned his full attention to training racehorses. Wheeler enjoyed tremendous success working for Whitney and numerous other major stables, including J. Rukin Jelks, Greentree Stable, and Nelson Bunker Hunt.

In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Wheeler conditioned 56 stakes-winning horses, including Hall of Famer Silver Spoon and champion Track Robbery. From 1938 through 1992, Wheeler won 1,336 races. He won 10 stakes with Silver Spoon, including the 1959 Santa Anita Derby. Wheeler repeated in the Santa Anita Derby in 1960 with Tompion. He also conditioned Bug Brush, winner of six stakes as a 4-year-old. Bug Brush set a world record for 1⅛ miles in the 1959 San Antonio Stakes. Bug Brush and Silver Spoon won back-to-back runnings of the Santa Margarita Handicap in 1959 and 1960, respectively, and combined for 14 stakes victories at Santa Anita in those two years.

Other significant races won by Wheeler horses included five runnings of the Hollywood Juvenile Championship, three editions of both the Santa Margarita Handicap and Santa Anita Oaks (formerly the Santa Susana Stakes), and two victories in the Hollywood Gold Cup and Del Mar Oaks. During the late 1970s, Wheeler won a total of 17 stakes with the fillies Taisez Vous and B. Thoughtful. Wheeler guided Track Robbery to a championship campaign in 1982 and was still active in the game when he died in 1992. At the time of his passing, Wheeler ranked fifth all time in stakes wins at Santa Anita.