HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
The Iceman's steakhouse: jockey George Woolf owned it, died at Santa Anita in 1946, and staff say he never left
233 E Huntington Dr, Arcadia, CA 91006
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Full-service steakhouse; dinner entrees in the $30–60 range.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Ground-floor restaurant with standard indoor dining room
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1922 · George Woolf 'The Iceman' co-ownership · Seabiscuit racing history · Santa Anita Park era steakhouse · Historical marker site
The Derby opened as a restaurant in the early 1920s, a short drive from the Santa Anita Park racetrack that has anchored Arcadia's identity since 1934. By the late 1930s the establishment had become a favored gathering spot for jockeys, trainers, and the sporting crowd that followed thoroughbred racing in Los Angeles.
George Woolf — known throughout racing as 'The Iceman' for his preternatural calm in the saddle — staged a grand reopening of The Derby in December 1938, the same year he guided Seabiscuit to victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup. Woolf kept living quarters above the restaurant and used the place as his home base when riding at Santa Anita. His jockey career included notable mounts on Whirlaway, Challedon, and Kayak II; the 1936 Preakness Stakes win aboard Bold Venture; and the match race victory over War Admiral that made Seabiscuit famous.
On January 3, 1946, Woolf was riding 'Please Me' in the fourth race at Santa Anita when he slipped from the saddle without apparent cause, pitching head-first into the track. Witnesses and physicians later concluded he had likely lost consciousness before the fall, possibly from hypoglycemia related to the extreme weight-cutting regimens common among jockeys of the era, exacerbated by his known diabetes. He died the following day at age 35.
The Derby has been family-owned since 1951 and continues to operate as a steakhouse in the same building. A historical marker was installed nearby. Santa Anita Park erected a life-size bronze of Woolf in its paddock, and since 1950 the United States Jockeys' Guild has awarded the annual George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in his honor.
Sources
The haunting claims at The Derby are specific and consistent enough to suggest a single thread of oral transmission among staff: footsteps on the staircase leading from the dining room to the upper-floor quarters where Woolf lived. The sound is described as purposeful rather than random — ascending rather than descending, and heard most often after the restaurant has closed for the night.
A secondary cluster of accounts involves a felt presence in the main dining room, particularly near the staircase foot. Employees who were unaware of the building's history have reportedly described similar sensations to those who knew it well. The restaurant's own published history and the historic marker nearby both discuss Woolf's death at length, which has kept the story in active circulation.
The specificity of the haunting — tied to a named, documented figure whose death and connection to the building are matters of public record — sets The Derby apart from more generalized restaurant hauntings. Whether or not the accounts reflect anything other than an emotionally charged building history, Woolf's imprint on the place remains visible in the racing photography on the walls and the bronze at the track a mile away.
Notable Entities
Dine in the historic steakhouse that George Woolf co-owned and reopened in December 1938. The room retains its mid-century horse-country character — framed racing photographs, dark wood, leather booths. The staircase leading to Woolf's former upstairs living quarters is visible from the dining floor. The Derby has been family-owned since 1951 and seats patrons in the same space where 'The Iceman' once held court.
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