Wendell W. Eads was an American 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...

 jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

. In the early 1940s he was a contract jockey with the prestigious Calumet Farm

Calumet Farm

Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of Lexington's blue grass country, the finest horse breeding region in...

. Small, even by jockey standards, Eads weighed just 102 pounds and as a result could not control Calumet's extremely high strung but talented colt, Whirlaway

Whirlaway

Whirlaway was an American champion thoroughbred racehorse.The chestnut horse was sired by English Derby winner Blenheim II, out of the broodmare Dustwhirl. Whirlaway was bred at Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky....

. The problem cost Eads the chance to make history aboard Whirlaway who won the 1941 United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing

United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing

In the United States, the "Triple Crown" is usually the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a series of three Thoroughbred horse races for three-year-old horses run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.While Daily Racing Form...

.

During his career, Wendell Eads won a number of important races including the Blue Grass Stakes

Blue Grass Stakes

The Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, currently sponsored by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is an American Grade 1 horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in mid April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky....

 and the Pimlico Special

Pimlico Special

The Pimlico Special is an American thoroughbred horse race held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland in mid May. It is raced on dirt over a distance of 1³/16 miles . The race is currently open to horses age three and older and offers a purse of $250,000.The Pimlico Special was first run in...

. As well, he competed in two of the American Classic Races. He was aboard Sun Again for a third-place finish in the 1942 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...

 and rode Dove Pie to a seventh-place finish in the 1943 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...

Following his retirement from racing, Wendell Eads made his home in Oakland, Illinois

Oakland, Illinois

Oakland is a city in Coles County, Illinois, United States. The population was 880 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Oakland is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000,...

where he was living at the time of his death in 1997.