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Bruce Headley: Feb. 17, 1934–Jan. 15, 2021
Veteran California-based trainer Bruce Headley, the developer of 2000 Eclipse Champion Sprinter Kona Gold and many other stakes winners, died Friday morning at Arcadia Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, Calif., from the effects of a stroke at age 86.
Born Feb. 17, 1934, in nearby Baldwin Park, Headley was first introduced to racing at Santa Anita by an aunt at age six. At age 14, he was mucking stalls and walking hots alongside a diminutive 16-year-old from El Monte named Willie Shoemaker at the Suzy Q Ranch in La Puente and from there, it was all racetrack – Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, Del Mar, the LA County Fairgrounds, Bay Meadows, Tanforan, Golden Gate Fields and more.