Fred Whitehead

Everyone knew him as “Whitey”  perhaps the most colorful greyhound owner ever to grace the sport in America. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on Aug. 19, 1896, Fredrick Whitehead started out as a plumber. Then in 1928 he purchased his first greyhound, Drum Fire, for $125. A year later, he was full-time in the greyhound business.

One of his early purchases was Lady Hay, who won the 1930 Derby Plate at Girard, Ks., for Whitey.

He obtained his first “booking” at Jeffersonville, Ind., and his wife, the former Ruth Smart, worked as his kennel helper. At the Fall Meet in 1930, Whitey met up with Ralph McMinimy, and a close association began where Ralph handled the breeding and raising of the pups while Whitey raced the kennel. One of the first greyhounds Ralph supplied Whitey was Kitty Dunn, who won the first Flagler Derby. Kitty Dunn was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1966.

Whitey’s kennel operation prospered and expanded, and soon his kennels were racing at practically all major tracks across the country. For 35 years, the McMinimy bloodlines kept the Whitehead Kennel at or near the top of the sport, and eventually these lines, through such producers as My Kit, Time Bomb, Scatter Brain, Court Ace, Ace’s Victory, and Miss Vivian, played a major role in improving the entire American breed. Most of the American greyhounds of today have some of the “Whitehead bloodlines” in their pedigrees, which is perhaps Whitey’s greatest contribution to the sport.

In 1954 Whitey obtained a permit for the construction of Cloverleaf Kennel Club near Loveland, Colo. The track was completed and opened in 1955, with Whitey as the major stockholder.

Whitey passed away on Feb. 25, 1968. Even in those last years, he raced outstanding greyhounds, such as Como and All-America Canis. Ruth continued the kennel operation for a while, but at the time of his induction was active only as a director at Cloverleaf.