Vester Richard "Tennessee" Wright (January 27, 1921 - July 25, 1966) was an American Champion Thoroughbred horse racing

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

 trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

 who lead all trainers in the United States in wins four times.http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/625201192.html?dids=625201192:625201192&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+26%2C+1966&author=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=Hold+Service+for+Trainer+V.+R.+(Tennessee)+Wright&pqatl=google

Born in Gallatin, Tennessee

Gallatin, Tennessee

Gallatin is a city in and the county seat of Sumner County, Tennessee, United States, along a navigable tributary of the Cumberland River. The population was 23,230 at the 2000 census. Named for U.S...

, he was widely known as "Tennessee Wright." His major race wins included the 1953 Florida Derby

Florida Derby

The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida on the Saturday closest to the end of March or the first of April. Added to the racing schedule in 1952, the Grade 1 race is run at 1⅛ miles on the dirt...

 with Money Broker, the 1956 Louisiana Derby

Louisiana Derby

The Louisiana Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Usually run in early March, the race is open to horses, age three, willing to race 11/8 miles on the dirt. A Grade II event, it currently offers a purse of...

 with Reaping Right. His best run was probably Roman Line

Roman Line (horse)

Roman Line was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Trained by Tennessee Wright, the colt won the 1962 Derby Trial Stakes by six lengths at Churchill Downs then in U.S...

 who won the 1961 Breeders' Futurity then in 1962 the Forerunner

Forerunner Stakes

The Forerunner Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the third week of April at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. Open to three-year-old horses, it is contested on turf over a distance of one and one-eighth miles .Inaugurated in 1950, the Forerunner Stakes...

 and Derby Trial Stakes before finishing second in the Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

 and third in the Preakness Stakes

Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

.

On July 25, 1966, Tennessee Wright's promising career was cut short when he suffered a heart attack and died at age forty-five.