William Ernest "Smiley" Adams (October 4, 1935 – June 19, 2003) was an American trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses who trained

Master Derby Master Derby (April 24, 1972 – January 22, 1999) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1975 Preakness Stakes. Background He was bred by Robert E. Lehmann at his Golden Chance Farm in Paris, Kentucky. Master Derby wa ...

to win the 1975 Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series. In what was the 100th running of the Preakness,

Darrel McHargue Darrel G. McHargue (born September 26, 1954, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) is a retired American Champion jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. One of five children from a family not connected to horse racing, he was first introduced to riding as a ...

aboard Master Derby defeated

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

winner

Foolish Pleasure Foolish Pleasure (March 23, 1972 – November 17, 1994) was an American bay Thoroughbred race horse who won the 1975 Kentucky Derby. Background Foolish Pleasure was a bay horse bred at Williston, Florida by Waldemar Farms, Inc. He was owned by ...

by a full-length. Always known as "Smiley", William Adams left school at age 14 to work as a stableboy at a racetrack. Three years later, the then 17-year-old lied about his age to join the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

and would serve overseas in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. After being discharged from the military, Adams returned to horse racing. In addition to his success with Master Derby, Adams also notably trained Run Dusty Run who finished second in the 1977 Kentucky Derby, third in the

1977 Preakness Stakes The 1977 Preakness Stakes was the 102nd running of the $200,000 Grade 1 Preakness Stakes thoroughbred horse race. The race took place on May 21, 1977, and was televised in the United States on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Seattle Slew, who ...

and second in the

1977 Belmont Stakes The 1977 Belmont Stakes was the 109th running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York held on June 11, 1977. With a field of eight horses, Seattle Slew won by four lengths in front of a crowd of 70,229 spectators. In conjunctio ...

, all to Triple Crown winner

Seattle Slew Seattle Slew (February 15, 1974 – May 7, 2002) was a champion American Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who became the tenth winner of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States), American Triple Crown (1977). He is one of only ...

. Among his many stakes wins, Smiley Adams won seven consecutive runnings of the Spiral Stakes at Latonia Race Course in Kentucky. Smiley Adams was retired from training and living in Nicholasville, Kentucky at the time of his death in 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Smiley 1935 births 2003 deaths United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War American racehorse trainers People from Versailles, Kentucky People from Nicholasville, Kentucky