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

Thoroughbred racehorses The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are con ...

who trained Master Derby to win the

1975 Preakness Stakes The 1975 Preakness Stakes was the 100th running of the $210,000 Grade 1 Preakness Stakes thoroughbred horse race. The race took place on May 17, 1975, and was televised in the United States on the CBS television network. Master Derby, who was j ...

, the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series. In what was the 100th running of the Preakness, Darrel McHargue aboard Master Derby defeated

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-yea ...

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 J ...

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, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through ...

and would serve overseas in the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

. 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 Run Dusty Run (foaled April 19, 1974) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse, winner of the 1976 Arlington-Washington Futurity Stakes. Career Run Dusty Run began his racing career on April 6, 1976, placing 4th at Keeneland. As a two-year-old he ...

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 ABC. Seattle Slew, who was jockeyed by Jean Cruguet, ...

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 racehorse who became the tenth winner of the American Triple Crown (1977). He is one of only two horses to have won the Triple Crown while being undefeated in ...

. 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 horse trainers People from Versailles, Kentucky People from Nicholasville, Kentucky