Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel dies at 68
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Monday, November 16, 2009; 4:55 PM
LOS ANGELES -- Bobby Frankel possessed a gift for coaxing top performances out of ornery, high-strung thoroughbreds, a gruff Hall of Fame trainer who was hard in his dealings with humans but gentle with the animals in his barn.
Frankel died of cancer Monday at his home in Pacific Palisades, jockey agent Ron Anderson said. He was 68.
Frankel had been running his stable by phone for most of the year while undergoing treatment and concealing details of his illness from most of his colleagues, a remarkable feat in an industry fueled by gossip.
"He was a secretive guy," Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said from Santa Anita. "He's from the old school of training - nobody needs to know your business."
Frankel began his career at Belmont Park and Aqueduct in New York, one of the cheap hired hands who walk horses around the barn after morning workouts. He took out his trainer's license in 1966 and won his first race with Double Dash at Aqueduct that November.
He built an early reputation as "King of the Claimers," taking the cheapest horses and turning them into high-priced stakes winners.
Frankel saddled 3,654 winners and earned $227,949,775 during his 43-year career, according to Equibase. He was second only to D. Wayne Lukas in money won, and they were the only trainers to earn more than $200 million.
The Brooklyn-born Frankel oversaw a coast-to-coast string of horses, never losing his New York accent or brusque demeanor that came off as intimidating to most who sought him around the barn.
"He wasn't a good people person when he was plying his trade," said retired Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Delahoussaye, who rode for Frankel. "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 revealed a softer side only among his animals and close friends.
"Once you got him by himself, he was a lot of fun to be around," Baffert said.
Anderson added, "He was a very kindhearted person that had people that worked for him for 20, 30 years, which is almost unheard of around the racetrack."
