A Look Into Maryland’s Horseracing Lasting Legacies—Billy Barton
- Angela Latham Kozlowski
- Oct 12
- 5 min read
This article is part of a series counting down to the running of the Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park
The storied career of a horse that lived and retired in Howard County is forever linked to Maryland horseracing’s past. The famous track runner-turned-steeplechase jumper Billy Barton is tied to Belmont Manor and Historic Park in Elkridge, thanks to the penultimate heir that owned the estate from 1917 to 1961. The famous horse lived on the property from 1923 to his death in his stable in 1951.
Historic Laurel Park racetrack, doomed to demolition and redevelopment following the 2026 running of the Preakness Stakes, is also linked to the famous Billy Barton despite an early rocky relationship with the star horse.
A Kentucky thoroughbred, Billy Barton began his career on flat tracks in Lexington at age two, where he won three races. Then, he was sent to Cuba, where he won the 2-year-old championship. In the 1920s, if you wanted your horse to race over the winter, you sent it to New Orleans, Tijuana, or Havana, according to 85-year-old George Mohr in 2000, who had spent 60 years of his life track-side at Pimlico.
As a 3-year-old in 1921, Billy Barton remained in Havana, winning two notable races and earning $17,000. As a 4-year-old, “he swept everything before him,” including a muddy Grand National worth nearly $10,000, according to newspaper reports.
The next owner, Samuel Louis, brought the 5-year-old Billy Barton to Maryland. However, Billy Barton’s demeanor had turned, well, meaner. Called a ruffian and bully, the horse often refused to start races and would kick, bite, and chew his groom’s clothing—while he was wearing them. He was called a terror to all who encountered him. This behavior led stewards at Pimlico to rule Billy Barton off flat tracks for exceedingly bad behavior.
Louis became fed up with the once-winning horse and sold him to Howard Bruce, owner of Belmont Manor, for $2,000. Bruce wanted the horse for his fox hunting pursuits. During those pursuits, Bruce identified the quality of Billy Barton as a jumper and thus began the second act of Billy Barton as a steeplechase champion.
Bruce was said to nurture the easy jumper’s natural ability, and the once unruly track star became an international sensation in cross-country steeplechase races. He seemed to float effortlessly over fences, hedges, walls, and other obstacles. And he was fast.
He won his first steeplechase race, the Grand National Point to Point at Brooklandwood in Green Spring Valley, Maryland, in 1926 by 20 lengths. Newspapers reported, “Maryland’s period of discontent was ended.” The very next week, Billy Barton won the Maryland Hunt Cup on what was described as the most difficult course in the country—4 miles long with 22 jumps, followed by the Virginia Gold Cup—the three great trophies of cross-country steeplechase competitions.
The International Steeplechase Sensation
In 1928, Bruce shipped Billy Barton to England to compete in the most prestigious steeplechase event in the world, The Grand National at Aintree (Liverpool, England). Billy Barton won his first race in England in preparation for the Grand National. London race writers said he won handsomely and even brilliantly. He had a less stellar outing at another warm-up event.
Meanwhile, 75 Baltimoreans set sail to England to cheer on Billy Barton. Back in Maryland, on race day, hundreds gathered outside of the Baltimore Sun building to listen to “probably the foremost of all radio announcers relay the telephonic report into the square and over the radio through local station WBAL.”
“Sunpapers, the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, and the British Postoffice’s telephone service cooperated to create the first ever transatlantic account of the world’s greatest steeplechase.” It was called an unprecedented achievement in reporting and communication that allowed thousands in America to hear the race as it happened.
There were 42 horses in the race. The ground was muddied by heavy rain and hail that morning. During the chaotic race, the top contenders fell and were out of the event. Billy Barton was in the lead through the first four fences and most of the race. The American horse was loudly cheered on by the Americans in the crowd as he reached his final jump.
The crowd roared, “Billy Barton!” and “America, Maryland wins!” only to watch in horror as Billy Barton “slipped in the treacherous footing and fell after taking the last jump.” His Irish jockey, T.B. Cullinan, standing in for Billy Barton’s usual jockey, remounted and brought the horse home, finishing in second place.
The winner, Tipperary Tim, the 100-1 long shot, “came plodding up” to the last fence, jumped it, landed cleanly, and galloped on to win. Tipperary Tim and Billy Barton were the only horses to finish the race that day.
Bruce and horseracing fans lauded the second-place finish for the American horse. Billy Barton was shipped back to America but was back in England to contest the Grand National the next year. Due to two falls and what was called a general mix-up that blocked the track, Billy Barton, in a field of 66 horses, did not place in his second attempt at Aintree.
In late December 1929, Billy Barton again was shipped home to Maryland and into retirement. He had been injured earlier that month, and the injuries were not responding to treatment. Bruce declared that Billy Barton had run his last race and deserved a long-earned rest in his future.
Billy Barton died in his stall on the grounds of the Bruce family home—Belmont Manor—in March 1951 at 33 years old. He was buried at Belmont. Confirmed in social media posts by relatives of Bruce to be buried standing and in full tack, Billy Barton’s gravesite is discreetly located near the barns of the stately manor. The inscription on the small headstone reads: Billy Barton 1918–1951. Another horse, Jay Jay, is buried next to Billy Barton.
The following year, Laurel Park president John Schapiro paid tribute to Billy Barton by unveiling a statue in the champion’s likeness outside the clubhouse at the racetrack. The life-like bronze statue was made by Maryland-born sculptor Henri Brenner, who worked on the statue in a makeshift studio on the second floor of the clubhouse at Laurel. The finished plaster statue was then shipped to New Jersey for casting. The stunning likeness of Billy Barton was completed in time for Laurel’s Spring meeting.
Despite being ruled off race tracks due to his unruly behavior as a young champion, Laurel Park chose to honor the jumper with a life-sized statue, the first such statue at a Maryland track. The move was called ironic by the press at the time, which noted that Laurel would offer no steeplechases on its daily programs that year.
Angie Latham Kozlowski is a staff writer and member of the Board of Directors for the Laurel History Boys. In addition to her investigative reporting, her articles frequently spotlight Howard County.
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