2025 Thoroughbred Legend Inductee
Wilma Kennedy was a proud Canadian horsewoman from Winnipeg, Manitoba, whose pioneering spirit shattered barriers for women in Thoroughbred racing – particularly in Western Canada. Born Wilma Patricia Chesney in 1910, she began her career at Polo Park, her hometown track, where she made a name for herself as a fearless and capable trainer. In a time when the racetrack backstretch was virtually off-limits to women – aside from a few trainers’ wives – Wilma not only entered the male-dominated world of horse racing, she transformed it. As one admirer put it, “Wilma didn’t just break barriers, she exploded them.”
In her mid-20s, Wilma began breeding, owning, racing, and training her own Thoroughbreds, defying social norms and carving out a space for women in a traditionally closed industry. Her talents soon took her far beyond Manitoba. Throughout the 1940s and ’50s, she trained at major tracks across North America – including Belmont, Saratoga, and Aqueduct in New York; Santa Anita and Hollywood Park in California; Keeneland and Churchill Downs in Kentucky; and many more.
One of her most notable partnerships was with Tinkham Veale II, a prominent Cleveland industrialist and philanthropist. As the principal trainer for Veale’s successful racing stable, Wilma conditioned Vital Force, a top-class stakes winner in the late 1950s. Under her guidance, Vital Force captured prestigious races such as the Tremont Stakes, Worlds Playground Stakes, Cherry Hill Stakes, Christiana Stakes, and Lafayette Stakes – defeating major competitors like Ouija Board, Bally Ache, Mr. Howard, and Neshenun.
Wilma Kennedy’s impact extended internationally. Over the course of her career, she bred, owned, and trained Thoroughbreds in Canada, the US, England, France, and Germany. She managed extensive breeding operations in Florida, Kentucky, France, and Canada, and was admired for both her horsemanship and leadership. In recognition of her accomplishments, she became the first woman ever elected to the American Thoroughbred Trainers Club. In the 1990s, a stakes race at Ellis Park was named in her honour.
Wilma Kennedy passed away at the age of 90, leaving behind a powerful legacy as a trailblazer, mentor, and icon in the world of Thoroughbred racing.