Fred W. Hooper1897 - 2000
Dateline: 08/04/00
Racing lost one of its patriarchs today when Fred W. Hooper passed away in the early hours of Friday morning of an apparent heart attack at age 102. He and his wife had gone down to watch his 2 year old colt Condensed Version run in the Dr. Fager division of the Florida Stallion Stakes at Calder Racecourse. He had been depressed since his son's death in July and getting weaker lately. Ironically, on Thursday he had announced plans to disperse 81 horses from his breeding operation at auction, planning only to keep the racing stable.
Hooper was born in Georgia on October 6, 1897, into a farming family. His early career including farming, cutting hair, bronc busting, boxing, and construction. He was a self taught man and could do anything he put his mind to. At age 22, without any prior knowledge of road building, he got a contract to build a section of highway and parlayed that into Hooper Construction which became a top construction company and made him his fortune. The company was headquartered in Montgomery, AL, and there is still a school there named after Mr. Hooper (Hooper Academy). Their sports teams are, of course, called the Hooper Colts.
 Mr. Hooper in the winner's circle with one of his many winners at Calder Racecourse |
Mr. Hooper was also a success in his breeding operation. He once said "I get so much more pleasure out of my own breeding than I do with buying." He moved his horse farm from Montgomery, AL, to Ocala, FL, in 1966 after retiring and was a major force behind the development of Florida's thoroughbred industry. Three of his homebred runners, Crozier, Copelan, and Tri Jet, became very influential Florida sires. He won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder in 1975 and 1982 and the Eclispe Award of Merit in 1991.
He also had an eye for talent in jockeys as well as horses and was responsible for bringing top Latin American riders to the US. Laffit Pincay Jr., Braulio Baeza, and Jorge Velasquez all got their start with Mr. Hooper and went on to become Hall of Fame members. When Pincay broke the lifetime win record a few months ago, Mr. Hooper traveled to California to participate in a ceremony honoring him.
The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association also owes its existence to him. He was a founding member of the American Thoroughbred Owners Association which merged with a corresponding breeders organization to form TOBA. He also served as president of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders Association from 1971 to 1979.
Mr. Hooper was an amazing man and a great ambassador for racing whose presence will be missed by many.
Photos courtesy of Calder Racecourse
More articles and info:
- Farming Into His Second Century - a nice article with a photo from New Holland News in March, you should read this one
- Star Banner obit - from his local paper and very good
- ESPN obit - with a nice photo
- Thoroughbred Times obit
- NandoNet obit
- DRF obit
- 1945 Kentucky Derby Chart - his win with Hoop Jr. He had 3 other Derby horses including Crozier who was 2nd in 1961.
- Susan's Girl from the Racing Hall of Fame
- Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century - from Blood Horse, his homebred Susan's Girl is ranked #51
- Eclipse Award winners - Mr. Hooper and two of his horses (Susan's Girl and Precisionist) are listed here
- Farms of Marion County - scroll about halfway down for some nice info about Hooper and his farm
- History of Ocala, FL - from The Backstretch, includes a nice section on Mr. Hooper about 3/4 of the way down
- History of the Keeneland Sales - Mr. Hooper bought his Kentucky Derby winner Hoop Jr. at their very first sale and the story of that is recounted at the beginning
- Florida Bred Champions - Mr. Hooper has several listed here
