Will Wheatley

{{Short description|British jockey}}

{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox horseracing personality

|name = Will Wheatley

|image = Will Wheatley jockey.jpg

|caption = Will Wheatley, jockey, from a study of Sam Chifney Jr, Will Wheatley and Jem Robinson by Ben Marshall (1818)

|occupation = Jockey

|birth_place = Cambridgeshire

|birth_date = 1786

|death_place = Kingsland, London

|death_date = 1848

|career wins =

|race = British Classic Race wins as jockey:
2,000 Guineas (1817, 1823, 1824)
Epsom Derby (1816, 1831)

|awards =

|honours =

|horses = Mameluke, Manfred, Marcellus, Nicolo, Prince Leopold, Schahriar, Spaniel

|

}}

William Wheatley (1786-1848) was a British Classic winning jockey of the early 19th century. His father was the 1795 Derby-winning jockey, Anthony Wheatley.{{sfn|Mortimer|Onslow|Willett|1978|p=654}}

He was, according to the Sporting Magazine of 1831, "one of the best jockeys in England."{{sfn|Sporting Magazine|1831|p=37}} He was particularly known for creeping up slowly during a race to win unexpectedly.{{sfn|The Museum of Foreign Literature, Science and Art|1833|p=417}} This was shown to memorable effect in the 1831 Derby. Wheatley was booked to ride 50/1 outsider, Spaniel, a horse known for only possessing one steady pace. The race principals ran together in a tactical battle and appeared to have forgotten about Wheatley on the unfancied Spaniel, who racing at his customary pace, "came up with perfect ease... [and] won in a most triumphant style".{{sfn|Wildrake|1841|p=10}} Wheatley's ride was deemed "a splendid performance."{{sfn|Sporting Magazine|1831|p=77}} Despite this, Spaniel has gone down in history as possibly the worst ever Derby winner. He was also known for having an untainted character,{{sfn|Sporting Magazine|1831|p=77}} and in Spaniel's Derby he had had a £25 bet at odds of 40/1 on his mount winning, only to cancel it at the last minute, thereby missing out on £1000.

Wheatley rode the Derby winner Mameluke in some of his best races (although not the Derby itself). One of his most noted rides was in the "ever-memorable" Ascot Gold Cup when he rode Mameluke against Zinganee, ridden by Sam Chifney, Jr.{{sfn|The Museum of Foreign Literature, Science and Art|1833|p=417}}

His principal patron was Lord Lowther.

William Wheatley lived up to the 1840s at Newmarket where his father and family had settled but died at Kingsland, then a small settlement in Middlesex but now part of Hackney, in February 1848 aged about 62.