NEWS
Remembering Joe Hirsch
Posted: Friday, January 09, 2009 4:52 PM
"He had such a wealth of knowledge about the history of the game, and it was always fascinating to listen to him talk. When I was on the Triple Crown trail with Seattle Slew, he’d come around and interview me. I’d pick his brain, and after about a half-hour he’d say, ‘Wait a minute – I’m supposed to be interviewing you!’ He put so much color into his stories. He expected things to be done first class, and that’s the way he wrote. He will be irreplaceable."
—Billy Turner, trainer of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew
"We’ve lost a good man. It’s very sad. Racing has lost such a knowledgeable man, who was always fair and accurate…and always a gentleman."
—Jorge Velasquez, Hall of Fame jockey
"I don’t have one specific memory—he was such an icon. Even before I rode I’d look forward to reading his column to see what he had to say about the best two year olds, or Derby prospects, or whatever champions he was writing about that day. He wrote about racing in such a passionate, articulate, thorough way and it was always a pleasure to read his thoughts and interpretations on what was going on in the game. Then, when I started riding and you’d get the call that Joe Hirsch wants to interview you it was so special and humbling that he’d pick you as a topic."
—Richard Migliore, jockey
"I wish we had more turf writers like Joe Hirsch. He was a class act all the way and a tremendous historian of the sport. He knew horses inside and out."
—William Badgett Jr., trainer
"He was the greatest that Joe Hirsch. He and Charlie Whittingham used to use this expression ‘Where Molly hid the peaches.’ I’d always ask him what it meant and he’d never tell me. Guess now we’ll never know."
—Sonny Taylor, NYRA placing judge
"I just remember being a kid and seeing PEB’s drawing of Joe--it was the best, really lifelike and it stands out when I think of him."
—Mike Luzzi, jockey
"There has been no more respected figure in horse racing over the last 50 years than Joe Hirsch. He eloquently brought our sport to the hearts and minds of millions, and those of us who had the good fortune to know Joe personally have an even greater sense of what racing has lost today."
—Alex Waldrop, president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association
“The Board of the Trustees and our staff were deeply saddened by the news of the death of Joe Hirsch. He was a kind man, a friend to everyone he met and such a passionate supporter of our sport. Joe served the Museum as a trustee and spent 10 years as the chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee. He truly was one of racing’s giants."
—Joseph Aulisi, director, National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
