Md. breeder Houghton dies

Maryland horsewoman Elizabeth Houghton, better known as Binnie, died of respiratory problems Aug. 7 at her Buckingham Farm, which overlooks the Chester River on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in Kent County.

She was to be represented by the 3-year-old filly Crabcakes in the $75,000 Miss Disco Stakes at Laurel Park on Saturday. Crabcakes, winner of the Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship in December, has finished second in the Alma North, Austintown Filly Sprint, and Wide Country stakes this year. Crabcakes is trained by Houghton’s nephew, T. Bernard Houghton.

Elizabeth Houghton, 79, was preceded in death by her husband, horsemen and outdoorsman Eddie Houghton, in 2008. The Houghtons were married in 1960 and moved to Buckingham Farm in 1964. They have placed Buckingham in a farmland preservation program.

The daughter of Thoroughbred owner and breeder Anderson Fowler, who died in 1997, Houghton was born in New York City and raised in Gladstone, N.J. Houghton was the niece of James Cox Brady, chairman of the New York Racing Association from 1961-69.

Houghton, along with her late husband, bred more than 40 stakes winners at Buckingham. The Houghtons were named Maryland’s outstanding owner in 1997.

The stakes winners they owned include multiple graded stakes winner Castelets; Palliser Bay, winner of the Grade 3 Gallorette; He Loves Me, the Maryland-bred champion 3-year-old filly of 2004 and winner of the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks; and Fascinatin’ Rhythm, a three-time stakes winner in 2010-11.

Green Alligator, the fourthplace finisher in the 1991 Kentucky Derby, who was owned by Fowler, was raised on Buckingham Farm.

Fowler also owned Timely Warning and Master Speaker, both of whom he bred in Maryland and spent time at Buckingham. Timely Warning won the Maryland Million Classic in 1990 and 1991 and finished second in the race in 1992. Master Speaker won the Classic in 1989 and finished second to Timely Warning in 1990.

Houghton is survived by two daughters, Geneviere Pierce of Montana and Kim Houghton Johnson of New Jersey, as well as four granddaughters and a grandson.