Harry Aleo, who campaigned 2005 champion sprinter Lost in the Fog, died of cancer at his home in San Francisco on Saturday. He was 88. 

Aleo’s longtime companion, Deannie Bartlett, was at his side at the time of his death.

An owner of a real estate agency, Aleo was known for a grumpy attitude and gruff responses. He campaigned a number of stakes winners since he began buying horses as a hobby in 1979, but Aleo became known worldwide as the owner of Lost in the Fog, a brilliant sprinter who was stricken with inoperable cancer that claimed his life in 2006.

Lost in the Fog raced in Aleo’s bright orange colors with black trim. He won his first ten starts as a two-and three-year-old, including the 2005 Swale (G2), Riva Ridge Breeders' Cup (G2), and Carry Back (G2) Stakes and the King's Bishop Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.

The overwhelming 7-to-10 favorite for the 2005 TVG Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), Lost in the Fog finished a mystifying seventh of 11 but was honored with the Eclipse Award as champion sprinter.

Despite numerous offers to buy the horse for millions of dollars, Aleo won the hearts of racing fans as he never considered parting with the Lost Soldier colt, whom he bought privately for $140,000 several weeks after the dark bay or brown colt failed to meet his reserve at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. March sale of selected two-year-olds in training.

“What the hell would I do that for?” Aleo said of selling Lost in the Fog. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for a horse like that.”

Lost in the Fog did not continue the form of his championship season in 2006 winning only one of three starts--the Aristides Breeders' Cup Handicap (G3) in June 2006 at Churchill Downs. He subsequently finished eighth in the Smile Sprint Handicap (G2) at Calder Race Course in July in what was to be his final start.

In August, the colt was taken to the University of California-Davis veterinary school for what was believed to be a mild case of colic, but doctors discovered a cancerous mass in his spleen nearly a square foot in size. An operation to remove the tumor was considered, but doctors discovered additional tumors near his kidney and underneath his spine.

Lost in the Fog was trained by Greg Gilchrist, the only trainer Aleo ever employed.

Other stakes winners owned by Aleo include Beyond Brilliant, Minutes Away, Smokey Stover, Vicarino, Victorina, and Wild Promises. 

A native of San Francisco, Aleo was signed to a minor league baseball contract by the Brooklyn Dodgers as a third baseman, but in 1940 sustained an injury in spring training that cut his career short. After serving in the army in World War II, he started his own real estate and insurance brokerage firm, Twin Peaks Properties, which he operated until his death.

Funeral services are pending.