Maryland-based veteran trainer William H. 'Wolf' Wolfendale III died at his home on Mar. 18. He was 74. A Pennsylvania native, Wolfendale first got involved as an owner at the age of 20 and later began training himself, moving from Waterford Park–now Mountaineer Park–to the Maryland circuit in 1973, where he went toe-to-toe with Maryland's “Big Four” trainers: King Leatherbury, Dick Dutrow, Grover 'Bud' Delp and John Tammaro.
“I remember when [Wolfendale] came in from Waterford Park,” Leatherbury said. “He was down there and he had a big stable of horses. He shipped in to Maryland and had all his horses in his own name, which was very unusual to be an owner-trainer and last very long.”
He added, “He was a tall, handsome guy and rather quiet. I knew him to speak to, and he lasted a long time. I always made a joke with him because my wife, the first time she saw him she said, 'My God, what a handsome man.' I used to bring it up to him, and he'd laugh. He was a nice, quiet guy and didn't say much. I didn't get to know him too well, but he went about his business and did well.”
Wolfendale won his first race as a trainer in 1966. Throughout his career, he saddled 1670 winners from 11,926 starters with purse earnings of $6,856,183. He operated a small farm, and also worked as a jockey's agent, groom and van driver in later years.
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