Robert P. “Bob” Benoit, founder and president of the racetrack photography group Benoit & Associates, died from pneumonia on Friday at Centinela Valley Hospital in Inglewood, California. He was 81.
Benoit served on the Board of Directors at Hollywood Park and in 1977 was named chief operating officer and general manager. Benoit was influential in forming the Racetrack Chaplaincy of California and also in bringing Racing Hall of Fame jockeys Sandy Hawley, Chris McCarron, and Eddie Delahoussaye to California.
In 2004, Benoit was the first recipient of the Laffit Pincay Jr. Award, which recognizes a person who has served Thoroughbred racing with integrity, extraordinary dedication, determination, and distinction.
"When I read of the establishment of the award, to be given in the spirit of Laffit Pincay Jr., I felt it was a magnificent gesture by Hollywood Park to annually acknowledge this incomparable leader in our sport, along with someone who it was felt has served the sport with a similar passion," Benoit said at the time. "To be the inaugural winner is an indescribable honor, the high point of my career of more than a half-century in racing. I'm truly overwhelmed."
Born in Gary, Indiana, in 1927, Benoit moved with his family to Los Angeles after grade school and graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1945. He served in the United States Army through 1947.
Benoit attended the University of California – Los Angeles and served as sports editor of the school paper, The Daily Bruin. He handicapped races for The Daily Bruin and wrote a regular turf column, before leaving UCLA in 1951 to become sports editor of the Inglewood Daily News, which served as the home newspaper for Hollywood Park.
Benoit took a seasonal job in the publicity department at Hollywood Park and was named assistant publicity director in 1955. In 1969, Benoit was named director of publicity for the Inglewood, California, track.
Benoit & Associates, track photographers for Santa Anita Park, Hollwood, Del Mar, and Fairplex Park, has chronicled many of horse racing's greatest moments.
Funeral services for Benoit have not yet been scheduled