Maryland breeder Binnie Houghton passes away
Crabcakes won the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship. Photo by Laurie Asseo.
Elizabeth “Binnie” Houghton, breeder of numerous good horses from her Chestertown, MD farm, died August 7 of a respiratory condition, the Baltimore Sun reported.
Houghton,79, raced and bred under the Buckingham Farm banner. She and her husband Eddie, who predeceased her, moved to the farm following their marriage, in 1960.
Among the top recent horses that raced for Buckingham were Grade 3 winner He Loves Me, Grade 2-placed runners For Kisses and Fascinatin’ Rhythm, and, most recently, stakes winner Crabcakes.
The latter put the family’s breeding prowess — dating back to Houghton’s father, Anderson Fowler — on full display. The daughter of Great Notion’s lineage traces back through her dam, Buckingham-bred Aunt Elaine, to granddam Annie Cake, a graded stakes winner bred by Fowler and raced in the colors of Binnie’s mother, the former Genevieve Brady.
What’s more, Crabcakes is trained by Houghton’s nephew, the Penn National-based trainer Bernie Houghton.
All of that made Crabcakes just as Maryland — and just as Houghton — as she could possibly be.
When Crabcakes won the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship last December, Houghton was asked what it meant to her to win the race with a homebred with such extensive family connections.
Houghton was active in land conservation and animal welfare causes, among other endeavors. She is survived by two daughters, Genevieve Pierce of Ennis, MT, and Kim Houghton Johnson of Landing, NJ; four granddaughters, and a great grandson. Plans for a private memorial are incomplete.
