Run for the Roses

Once upon a time, Johnson County’s favorite son was a horse. Lawrin, a handsome colt born and bred along Mission Road, won the Kentucky Derby in 1938. Lawrin was one of several racehorses owned by Herbert Woolf, heir to the Woolf Brothers clothing business in Kansas City. Following up on a lifelong interest in horses, Woolf began purchasing and breeding thoroughbreds in the early 1930s. Woolford Farm, located in northeast Johnson County around 79^th and Mission, was home to his racing stable. One local journalist described the farm as “a bit of old Kentucky: blue grass, big shade trees, clear streams running over limestone, and all enclosed in the traditional white wooden fences.

Although Woolf’s farm produced no other Derby winners, several of his horses — including Lawrin’s son Historian and Technician, who placed fifth in the 1939 Kentucky Derby — enjoyed respectable careers on the track. Lawrin’s 1938 victory helped launch the careers of two men who were destined to be stars in the horse-racing world. Lawrin’s jockey for the Derby win was the young Eddie Arcaro, who later rode Whirlaway and Citation to victories in the Triple Crown (Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes). Arcaro was inducted into racing’s hall of fame in 1958. Lawrin’s trainer was Ben Jones. Jones worked for Woolford Farms for nine years before moving on to work with numerous other star thoroughbreds. Including Lawrin, Jones trained a record six Kentucky Derby winners.

After a long and fruitful life on the Woolf farm, Lawrin died at the age of 20. He was buried on the current site of the Corinth Shopping Center at 83^rd and Mission Road in Prairie Village.

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