J. Elliott Burch
| Elliott Burch | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | San Juan Capistrano Handicap (1976) (1976)Test Stakes
|
| Racing awards | |
| U.S. Champion Trainer by earnings (1969) | |
| Honours | |
| United States' Racing Hall of Fame (1980) | |
| Significant horses | |
| Sword Dancer, Bowl of Flowers, Quadrangle Fort Marcy, Run the Gantlet, Arts and Letters Key to the Mint, State Dinner, Silver Buck | |
John Elliott Burch (March 3, 1924 – January 30, 2011) was an American National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Four of his horses were inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.[1]
Biography
Known by Elliott, he is the son of Preston M. Burch and grandson of William P. Burch who were both Hall of Fame trainers. He served with the United States Army Signal Corps in World War II.[2]
A graduate of Lawrenceville School, Yale University and the University of Kentucky, Elliott Burch worked as a sports writer for the Daily Racing Form before going to work for his father in 1955 at Isabel Dodge Sloane's Brookmeade Stable. In 1957 he took over from his father as head trainer for whom he would have considerable success. The most famous of his Brookmeade horses was 1959 American Horse of the Year and Hall of Fame inductee, Sword Dancer. Elliott Burch and Sword Dancer were on the cover of the February 22, 1960 issue of Sports Illustrated.[3]
In 1966 he went to work for
Triple Crown
Elliott Burch had four horses who ran in the Kentucky Derby. His best results were a second-place finish in 1959 (Sword Dancer) and again in 1969 (Arts and Letters). He also trained four Preakness Stakes runners, finishing second in 1959 (Sword Dancer) and 1969 (Arts and Letters), third in 1972 (Key To The Mint), and fourth in 1964 (Quadrangle).
In the Belmont Stakes, Burch won three times from the five years in which he had an entrant. He won with Sword Dancer in 1959, with
In the pre-
Horses trained
- Sword Dancer
- U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1959)
- U.S. Champion Male Handicap Horse(1959)
- American Horse of the Year (1959)
- United States Racing Hall of Fame (1977)
- Bowl of Flowers
- Fort Marcy
- American Champion Male Turf Horse (1967, 1970)
- American Co-Champion Male Turf Horse (1968)
- American Champion Older Male Horse(1970)
- American Co-Champion Horse of the Year (1970)
- United States Racing Hall of Fame (1998)
- Arts and Letters
- U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1969)
- U.S. Champion Handicap Male Horse(1969)
- American Horse of the Year (1969)
- United States Racing and Hall of Fame (1994)
- Run the Gantlet
- Key to the Mint
- U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1972)
In 1980, Elliott Burch was inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. He retired after the 1985 campaign, having won three
Elliott Burch died in a Newport, Rhode Island hospital at age eighty-six following complications from pneumonia.[2]