Sports
A Noble Gesture by Santa Anita Park
On what would have been his 100th birthday, legendary trainer Noble Threewitt, along with his wife of 77 years, Beryl, are honored at ceremony in Chandelier Room.
Horse racing legend Noble Threewitt, who died at age 99 last Sept. 16, would have turned 100 Feb. 24. So officials picked that date to honor the man who is generally acknowledged as an outstanding trainer and even better human being.
Some 200 people attended what was billed as a “Celebration of the Lives of Noble and Beryl Threewitt” in Santa Anita’s Chandelier Room after the day's races.
Beryl Threewitt died on July 12, 2010, at the age of 98. She and Noble were married for 77 years.
Speakers talked about Noble’s accomplishments as a trainer but spent more time talking about what he did to help stable workers and their families. Generous was a word often used during the many tributes.
Born in Illnois on Feb. 24, 1911, Noble began his lifelong work with the horse racing industry as a jockey, became the nation’s youngest trainer at age 21 when he saddled his first horse at Aqua Caliente racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico, and got his first victory in 1932.
Born on Nov. 15, 1911, Beryl Buck, the daughter of trainer W.D. Buck, met Noble at a racetrack in the Northwest. Noble proposed a few weeks later and the two married in 1933. Beryl’s father told Noble the marriage would never last.
Beryl and Nobel were present for the opening of all five major racetracks in California – Santa Anita Park, Hollywood Park, Del Mar, Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields. Nobel won training titles at Hollywood Park in 1959, 1960 and 1961, and at Golden Gate Fields in 1970.
In April 1954, horses trained by Noble won nine consecutive races at Tanforan Racetrack in Northern California. His most notable horse may have been Correlation, the winner of the 1954 Florida Derby and Wood Memorial. On April 22, 1006, he became the oldest trainer in North America when one of his horses won at Santa Anita. On his 96th birthday on Feb. 24, 2007, Noble Threewitt retired as a trainer, having won more than 2,000 races.
Through it all, he continually helped people who worked with horses. He was a stauch advocate for stable workers’ rights. He was very active with the California Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and the California Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. The clinic at Santa Anita is named in Noble’s honor.