Robert Julian Frankel (July 9, 1941 - November 16, 2009) is an American horse race coach who ESPN calls "one of the most successful and respected trainers in the history of racing." He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1995, and is a five-time Eclipse Award Winner for Extraordinary Trainers. Often referred to as "Bobby" by others, he prefers and always uses "Robert." Frankel set a single-season world record for most Class/Group I wins in 2003 with 25 Grade I wins, a record that survived until beaten by Aidan O'Brien in 2017.
Video Robert J. Frankel
Early life and education
Frankel was born on July 9, 1941 in a Jewish family in Brooklyn, the sons of Merrill and Gertrude Frankel. His parents are in the catering business. His interest in horses was disturbed when his parents took him to Belmont Park as a child. After high school, he enrolls in C.W. Post College on Long Island but soon stopped after a fight. After that, he worked the construction during the day and gambled on the track at night eventually volunteering as a hot pedestrian so he could get free tickets to the night race.
Maps Robert J. Frankel
Careers
Early in his career in the 1960s in New York City, Frankel helped renowned coach Buddy Jacobson. By itself, Frankel weighed on his first winner in late 1966 before struggling somewhat in 1967, when he won with only 9 of 101 starters. However, in 1968, he won 36 out of 165 events, his horses collected $ 167,000 in cash money. In the next few years, he continued to flourish in New York, and during the winter of 1970-1971, he succeeded at meeting the West Coast in Santa Anita.
After moving permanently to California in 1972, Frankel scored a series of victories that took him to the attention of the horse betting world, winning a record 60 races at Hollywood Park. Much of that victory came with runners he earned as a low-cost claimant for one of his owners like Edmund Gann who has a working relationship for thirty years. These horses usually show a dramatic increase under his care, sometimes winning the next start against companies demanding higher prices.
Frankel is a vigorous follower of Charlie Whittingham's training techniques, coaches such as Ferdinand and Sunday Silence. Frankel won several Eclipse Awards, a year-end horse racing award, for the best coach. He makes records of income, Grade I keeps a record of victory, and many others. Frankel also won the Pacific Classic Stakes six times, including four times in a row.
Some of his best horses include Squirtle Squirt, winner of the first Breeders' Cup; Skimming, 2nd winner Pacific Pacific Grade 1 Stake; Sightseek, winner of Handicap Humana Distaff (Gr. I) and Handicap Ogden Phipps (Gr. I); First class winner I, Empire Maker, winner of Belmont Stakes (Gr I); several Level I Peace Rules; twice Santa Anita Handicap (Gr I) winner of the Milwaukee Brew; Breeders' Cup Filly & amp; Mare Turf (Gr. I) the winner of Starine, which he also owns; and Ghostzapper, winner of Breeders' Cup Classic (Gr. I) selected as the 2004 Eclipse Award for Horses of the Year.
Frankel is the US Champion Coach with earnings in 2002 and 2003.
On June 26, 2005, Wild Desert, owned by several businessmen including former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, gave Frankel his first victory at Queen's Plate for $ 1 million, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown at Woodbine Racetrack.
Personal life and death
Frankel married twice:
- His first wife was Bernadette Birk (b.1950) Birk was a Roman Catholic of Welsh descent who converted to Judaism when they married. They had a daughter named Bethenny Frankel (born 1970), who later became a reality TV contestant. They divorced after four years of marriage and Bernadette remarried with another horse trainer John Parisella. Parisella and Frankel were originally friends and competitors.
- In 2003, she married Bonita Boniface. They divorced in 2006.
Frankel died at his home in California on November 16, 2009, at the age of 68, after being diagnosed with leukemia. Separated from his daughter and best friend of Parisella, he reconciled with both before his death.
Legacy
On November 1, 2014, Bobby's Kitten, named after the late Hall of Fame trainer, captured the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita Park. Bobby's Kitten is owned and raised by Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, who are Frankel's clients. The foal is trained by Chad Brown (horse trainer), who is Frankel's assistant in New York.
In 2010, the San Gorgonio Handicap - the race won by Frankel eight times - was renamed Robert J. Frankel Memorial Handicap in his honor.
In 2008 a stallion of Juddmonte Stud was named Frankel in honor of the coach. The foal, raised from Galileo and Kind, trained in Newmarket (England) by Sir Henry Cecil, won all 14 commencements, and received the highest rating ever given by the British publication Timeform . After his 14th win of October 2012, it was announced that Frankel would retire to study.
In 2004, he was inducted into the Jewish Hall of Fame of Southern California.
References
- Bobby Frankel at NTRA
- Robert Frankel's biography at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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