Home Hall of Fame Breeders Pre-1980 George Drumheller

George Drumheller

(1874-1945, Inducted 2004)

Deemed “the father of Thoroughbred horse racing in Washington,” George Drumheller was one of the original sponsors of Washington State House Bill 59 that allowed racing to return to this state and paved the way for Longacres to open in 1933. A wheat farmer with over 1,000 acres in Walla Walla, Drumheller began to dabble with race horses during “what in the 1920’s was most certainly an obscure business in this state. Spending thousands of dollars for Kentucky bloodstock and racing stock,” he was con-sidered the leading Washington horseman of his day. Drumheller was this state’s leading breeder, by earnings, for six consecutive years (1935-1940). From 1935 through 1951, he bred the winners of 238 races, tops in the state during that period. His Drumheller Ranch stood early leading Washington sires Gladiator (sire of 1941 Longacres Mile winner Campus Fusser), Black Forest (sire of Arlington Park’s Stars and Stripes Stakes winner Georgie Drum) and Fort Churchill (sire of 1945 Longacres Mile winner Prince Ernest). Son, Allen Drumheller, a 2003 inductee to the Washington Racing Hall of Fame in the trainer category, would be the leading breeder in this state eight times. Additionally, Allen was one of the nation’s most respected trainers of his day and one of the state’s original racing commissioners.

Read the expanded profile in the WASHINGTON THOROUGHBRED MAGAZINE, September 2004, page 596.