Gwyn R. Tompkins

Who was Gwyn R. Tompkins?

Gwyn R. Tompkins was an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer and owner in both steeplechase and flat racing.

Tompkins owned and trained Rossfenton who in 1910 won the most prestigious steeplechase event in the United States, the American Grand National. Fifteen years later he gained national prominence in flat racing when he took over from Louis Feustel in 1923 as head trainer for Sam Riddle's famous Glen Riddle Farm.

While training for Riddle, 1925 Gwyn Tompkins accomplished something extraordinary in Thoroughbred racing when he conditioned the American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, the American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly, and the American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse. In addition, that same year Tompkins prepared the then two-year-old Crusader who would earn 1926 American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse and Horse of the Year honors. For 1925, Gwyn Tompkins was the United States Champion Thoroughbred Trainer by earnings.

A story in the November 1, 1925 issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune was headlined: America's Leading Race Trainer Near Death at Laurel. Tompkins recovered from his illness but five weeks later the New York Times reported that he had resigned as trainer for Glen Riddle Farm due to his health problems. However, he soon signed on with Isabel Dodge Sloane, heiress and owner of Brookmeade Stable. For Mrs. Sloane, he trained horses that won in both steeplechase and flat racing.