NEWS
Hall of Fame trainer Frankel dies at 68
Posted: Monday, November 16, 2009 10:27 AM
ROBERT FRANKEL AT THE 2003 BELMONT STAKES (G1)
Patricia McQueen photo
by Steve Bailey and Pete Denk
Trainer Chad Brown knows where he would be without the guidance of Racing Hall of Fame Bobby Frankel.
Actually, Brown, who worked as an assistant for Frankel for five years, has no clue where he would be, although he probably would not be training his own string of horses with a Breeders’ Cup victory on his still-developing resume.
“Bobby changed the course of my life, and I was only one of a number of people he did that for,” Brown said of his former boss, who died on Monday morning at his home in Pacific Palisades, California, after a battle with lymphoma. He was 68.
“He had that kind of power and ability. As a horseman, a trainer, and a human being, he was so caring for his help and his horses. He was such a good caretaker.”
Brown is one of many in the Thoroughbred racing community mourning the death of the Brooklyn, New York, native, one of only two conditioners to win five Eclipse Awards as outstanding trainer. He had not been seen publicly much of the year as he waged his struggle against the disease.
“Bobby Frankel was one of the greatest trainers in Thoroughbred racing history,” National Thoroughbred Racing Association President Alex Waldrop said. “His outstanding horsemanship, coupled with a keen insight into the game, made him a force in the sport for the last 40 years. His immense talent, and his abiding love for his horses, will be sorely missed.”
Frankel won his first Eclipse Award in 1993 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in ‘95, but his career had far from peaked at that point. He began a run of four consecutive Eclipse Awards in 2000, when his stable won 22 graded stakes races at ten different tracks and finished second in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) with Aptitude.
In the nine years from 2000-‘08, Frankel's barn won at least $10-million in purses eight times. Overall, Frankel won 3,654 races from 17,657 starters and his horses earned $227,947,775, second all-time on the money list to D. Wayne Lukas.
Frankel also won 11 Eclipse Awards with ten horses—Aldebaran, Bertrando, Ghostzapper, Ginger Punch, Intercontinental (GB), Leroidesanimaux (Brz), Possibly Perfect, Ryafan, Squirtle Squirt, and Wandesta (GB). In 2003, he won 25 Grade 1 races, a single-season world record.
The gaudy numbers, however, tell only part of the story. His peers are more impressed with his horsemanship and his ability to get the most out of the horses in his care than the number of times he reached the winner’s circle.
“He was one of the best ever,” said Richard Dutrow Jr., a New York-based trainer and longtime friend of Frankel. “When I had to think about something, I would often run it past Bobby. There are not so many good horsemen around, and Bobby was one of the best.
“There may be 1,000 trainers, but only five good horsemen. Bobby was unbelievable. He started with nothing, and made it to the top of the game. People like that you can’t replace. He’s going to be missed.”
Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Delahoussaye said Frankel’s gruff exterior did not allow many people to see his caring, compassionate nature.
“Bobby was a great guy,” Delahoussaye said. “He did a lot of things behind the scenes that people don't know. He was very generous, very good to his help. He was great to ride for. He never told you how to ride. He had confidence in you. When he gave you a leg up, he felt you should know your business.
“He was a great handicapper. He knew where to put his horses. He wasn't a good people person when he was plying his trade. If you didn't know him, he could be a jerk. You had to know him off the track. He was very gracious, but he wouldn't let everybody know that.”
Frankel started his career in racing as a hotwalker at Belmont Park and Aqueduct during the mid-1960s. He received his trainer’s license in 1966 and soon gained a reputation as “King of the Claimers” for his ability to develop claiming horses into stakes runners.
Frankel moved to California in 1972, and his training ability shined through immediately in his new surroundings. Frankel won six consecutive training titles at Hollywood Park from ’72 to ’77, seven Oak Tree at Santa Anita Park titles between ’73 and ’82, and five Santa Anita titles between ’75 and ’82.
One of Frankel’s specialties was his ability to figure out individual horses, and he took particular pride in his work with the notoriously difficult to train Toussaud, calling her neck loss to champion Flawlessly in the Matriarch Stakes (G1) his greatest accomplishment of the year.
Toussaud went on to become a foundation mare for Juddmonte Farms, producing five graded winners including 2000 Arlington Million Stakes (G1) winner Chester House and ‘03 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Empire Maker—both trained by Frankel.
“It became an amazingly fruitful association from a success point of view with all the great horses he trained for us,” said Garrett O’Rourke, manager of Juddmonte’s operation in Lexington. “They are littering our paddock at the moment. On a drive through the farm this morning I just took a look at all the mares and stallions he had a hand in. He was a part of so much that went on in this organization.”
Frankel was a master at preparing turf runners. Frankel won 28 races worth at least $1-million, including grass races such as the Arlington Million Stakes (G1) (twice), the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) (twice), the Woodbine Mile (Can-G1) (three times), and the Japan Cup (Jpn-G1).
“As a horseman, he would always tell me to change with the times,” Brown said. “‘I don’t train the way I did in the 1970s,’ he’d say. But I’d watch him and I’d see he still had the basics. He had a great balance between keeping up with changing times, and being rooted in the basics.
“He proved you don’t have to grow up on a farm or be somebody’s kid to make it. There’s never going to be another Bobby Frankel. It’s a big, big loss. Trainers come and go, but here’s a guy who won decade after decade.”
Frankel is survived by his daughter, Bethenny. Services will be held on Tuesday at 3 p.m. PST at Hillside Memorial, 6001 Centinela Avenue in Los Angeles.
Steve Bailey is deputy news editor of Thoroughbred Times
Pete Denk is sales editor of Thoroughbred Times
New York correspondent Richard Rosenblatt also contributed to this report
