Wilwyn was sired by Pink Flower, a son of one of Germany's great runners, Oleander, a three-time winner of the Grosser Preis von Baden and a two-time winner of the Grosser Preis von Berlin.
In October 1952, assistant trainer John Waugh brought the four-year-old Wilwyn to the United States where he won his eleventh straight race by capturing the inaugural running of the Washington, D.C. International Stakes at the Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland.
[2] An outstanding race in which the lead changed hands six times, the success of the Washington, D.C. International Stakes would help spawn the Breeders' Cup.
The November 27, 1952 edition of the New York Times reported that an American syndicate was negotiating with owner Robert Boucher to buy Wilwyn.
[5] Wilwyn was retired to stud duty in England, but met with his greatest success as a sire after being sent to breeders in South Africa in 1959.