Howard Belvoir, one of the greatest trainers in Washington racing history, died Friday at age 82 of heart failure.
Training mainly in Washington but also including stints in California, Oregon, and British Columbia, Belvoir won 2,192 races in a remarkable 63-year career that included induction into the Washington Racing Hall of Fame. Born in Iola, Kan., and raised in Payette, Idaho, Belvoir learned racing from the ground up under trainers Roy and Troy Taylor before taking out his own license in 1963, a decision he never regretted.
"Racing is in my blood," Belvoir said in 2018. "Once you get in you, you can never get it out of you."
At Emerald Downs, Belvoir ranks near the top in every important category: third in wins (830), second in earnings ($9,514,704), sixth in stakes wins (49). His silks—red and black with a pirate emblem—are amongst the most familiar in Washington racing.
In 2008, homebred Wasserman won four stakes topped by a dramatic score in the $300,000 Longacres Mile (G3) to earn titles as Washington Horse of the Year and Emerald Downs Horse of the Meeting. Wasserman's victory in the Mile ranks among the top moments in track history with Jennifer Whitaker becoming the first and only woman jockey to win the race in its 91-year history. Belvoir and Whitaker would form one of the most successful teams in Washington racing history, combining for 322 wins through 2026.
Assessment and Barkley added the second and third victories to Belvoir's Mile resume, winning in 2009 and 2018, respectively. In all, Belvoir campaigned three Emerald Downs Horses of the Meeting: Wasserman, (2008), Assessment (2009), and Dutton (2020).
Asked to name a favorite, Belvoir often cited Red Eye Express as the horse most pivotal to his early training career. The venerable Oregon-bred won 22 of 68 starts and finished a close second in the 1974 Longacres Mile.
The Emerald Downs race office honored Belvoir with its 2010 Martin Durkan Award for sportsmanship and excellence on and off the track, and in 2013 Belvoir was recognized with the state's top racing honor by being voted into the Washington Racing Hall of Fame. In his acceptance speech, Belvoir recognized owners, assistant trainers, exercise riders, grooms and hotwalkers for making it all possible.
"I've been fortunate and lucky to have a lot of good horses, but you're only as good as your help," he said. "That's the truth."
Seattles Best Joe, a $4,500 yearling, demonstrated Belvoir's deft touch with young horses, banking more than $150,000 including a stakes win at Santa Anita Park. In fact, Seattles Best Joe was one of six Belvoir juveniles named Washington champion 2-year-old colt or gelding: Sundance Circle (2003), Seattles Best Joe (2004), Immigration (2006), So Lucky (2016), Elliott Bay, (2017), and Dutton (2020).
Belvoir worked with a slew of important clients throughout his career, a long list of influential business people and friends including Harley and Teresa Hoppe, Rising Star Stable, Lou Tice, Pegasus Too, and Once Stable.
Belvoir is survived by longtime partner Vicki Potter and sons Heath, Clay, and Vann, the latter a former Emerald Downs riding champion and currently a trainer in California.
Per Belvoir's request, no services are planned. The family plans to honor him with a race at Emerald Downs in the 2027 season.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
