David Whiteley, trained Coastal to Belmont Stakes upset, dies at 73

David Whiteley, a three-time Racing Hall of Fame nominee who trained three champions and upset the great Spectacular Bid in the 1979 Belmont Stakes with Coastal, died Saturday of natural causes in Camden, S.C. He was 73.

Longtime friend and colleague John Veitch said he was informed by Whiteley’s ex-wife, Sharon Austin Whiteley, that Whiteley’s body was found by his housekeeper in his Camden home, where he had lived alone for years.

Whiteley, who retired from training in 1995, trained Eclipse champions Revidere (1976), Waya (1979), and Just a Game (1980), but his brightest moment in the racing spotlight may have come when Coastal foiled the Triple Crown bid of Spectacular Bid. Ridden by Ruben Hernandez, Coastal won the Belmont by 3 1/4 lengths over Golden Act as Spectacular Bid faded to third as a huge favorite.

Whiteley was the son of Frank Whiteley, a Hall of Famer best known as the trainer of Ruffian, Damascus, and Forego. True to his lineage, David Whiteley had a very conservative personal and professional demeanor, and his methods of campaigning his horses reflected as much. His stable seldom consisted of more than 20 horses, said Jimmy Baker, a longtime Kentucky-based trainer who worked under Whiteley for six years.

“In his prime, he was one of the most respected horsemen in the country,” said Baker. “He always emphasized quality, not quantity. He wasn’t the easiest guy to work for, because he demanded perfection from everybody, from the hot walker to the exercise rider. He wanted everyone to be at their best at all times, but when it came down to it, David really was a great man and a great horseman.”

Among the other top horses trained by Whiteley were Tiller, Astray, Highland Blade, Instrument Landing, and Northernette. His roster of clients read like a Who’s Who of the time, and included Martha Gerry, the Bancroft family, William Haggin Perry, Peter Brant, Christiana Stable, and Calumet Farm.

In a March 2017 Daily Racing Form column by Jay Hovdey, Whiteley said: “I had maybe 20 horses, four or five horses for each owner, and I trained those four or five like they were the only ones. That helped me and hurt me because sometimes I’d get my hands on a good one and pay more attention to that one than a lesser one.”

Whiteley trained from 1970-1995, retiring quietly to South Carolina to look after his father, who died in 2008. His name was on the Hall of Fame ballot each of the last three years (2015-17), but he failed to attract enough votes for induction.

Whiteley is survived by a daughter, Kyle, who lives in New York. There will be no memorial service.