The level of bute in one of the horse’s I know of was 12.5 and I don’t recall the morphine level but do recall the scuttle on the backstretch being that “money talks” and it was dismissed 6 years later! Sorry, but in my recollections of the man he was ALL about the money and would do whatever it took to get it. No idea the rationale of cutting the hooves so short, just know they were surely foot sore after seeing the farrier but then if you are medicating it is no big deal right?:no:
Dick, I come from the school of thought that a leopard never changes it’s spots. Bobby was the same person I knew frm the 80’s and there are plenty out there just like him…don’t even get me going on that :no:
I don’t think that this is a place to bash him.
Rest in peace, Bobby.
[QUOTE=Vivace;4501591]
I don’t think that this is a place to bash him.
Rest in peace, Bobby.[/QUOTE]
I concur.
So sorry, but I really knew the guy and that is how I based my OPINION. I did not base it on media reports or articles from the BloodHorse. Back to your normal COTH adulation for a person who does not deserve it.
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Kaleigh, you stated your opinion, and now I’m stating mine.
Although I did not know the man personally, I do know some people who did over the years and told me a lot of stories about him.
And you need to be put in your place here.
He did not have the farriers quick the horses. No horseman wants this practice as it makes the horse lame. When horses are first shod, especially with TBs who sometimes have very sensitive feet and soles, they are often tender walking away from the farrier. Some more so than others. Most horses are ‘unsound’. That means that most of them do have a problem or two that need careful managing. Also, a lot of times, vets will cut a hoof down to the bruise and drain the area. I’m also not sure how many positives he has come up with, but they weren’t with Ginger Punch, Ghostzapper, and all the other GI winners that he has trained over the years. Where was the bute with them?
No matter what you may think of him, you can’t be lucky enough to accomplish what he did with horses in his lifetime without also being darn good at it.
From the stories that I heard, he was arrogant and sometimes didn’t treat his staff the best, but everyone has good and bad parts to them. And he loved his animals. I remember when he cried about his filly that spooked, flipped over the rail, and had to be euthanized. That wasn’t fake.
You bashing the man here after he just lost his battle with a devastating disease speaks a lot more about you than it does him. It wasn’t enough for you that he died in pain from an awful disease. Please, for the respect of others, don’t continue to be tactless and downright cruel. Let the man rest in peace. I know I’ll remember him for being a great trainer no matter the other things that I know about him. You certainly can’t change my opinion of him, and I’m sure you won’t change anyone else’s on here either.
The wide praise for Bobby Frankel goes well beyond just The BloodHorse …
Frankel Remembered Fondly by Fair Grounds Horsemen
“He was a great horseman and was unique in his training,” said trainer Al Stall Jr., who stabled near Frankel’s barn at Saratoga. "He trained his horses one morning at a time and he wasn’t afraid to change things midstream, the same morning even, and it worked. His horses looked wonderful on the racetrack. They were nice horses to start, of course, but they sure always looked the part.
Stall’s assistant, Pam Fitzgerald, galloped many of Frankel’s graded stakes winners, including Tinners Way and Possibly Perfect, during three years she worked for him in California in the mid-1990s. “He was really sharp and sometimes he’d let you believe that he wasn’t paying attention but he always knew what you were doing,” Fitzgerald said.
“He was generous with people that needed help,” she added, remembering that Frankel once helped pay for an exercise rider’s rehab treatment. “He could be gruff, but he had a soft side, too.”
“In my eyes, he and Charlie Whittingham were the benchmarks,” trainer Ron Ellis said. “I guarantee there wasn’t anybody who claimed as many horses and made them stakes winners. He moved everything up that he got his hands on.”
“The thing I’ll remember is that he has help in his barn that have been there for 20, 25 and 30 years,” said Ron Anderson, the agent for jockey Garrett Gomez. “You don’t have that in any business anymore. He employed grooms for dozens and dozens of years because he was so kind and thoughtful. He also came off as a hard, brazen type, but the biggest secret in horse racing was how soft and warm he was.”
Jay Hovdey “No choice but to rise to the top”
“In claiming, you’ve got egos involved,” he told me in a 1995 interview. “I knew how that was. And the horses were the alter ego. People weren’t thinking of them as animals who feel pain. I’d see guys lose a horse and clapping because somebody else got stuck with a bad horse, or a horse breaks his leg and somebody claims him, and they’re giving each other high fives. That’s the worst. I didn’t feel like being part of that any more.”
There are a few everlasting images that we decide upon to remember the iconic personalities. …
Frankel, just 68, could have lived another 30 years, winning whatever he wanted to, saying whatever came into his mind, and still for me he would always be the Bobby I saw walking aimlessly through the Santa Anita Park paddock gardens late on the afternoon of March 18, 1984.
His fine filly Sweet Diane had just been killed on the first turn of the Santa Ana Handicap. She had fallen over High Haven, who broke her leg, and in falling Sweet Diane snapped her neck. Like that, she was gone. For occasions of random horror there can be no consolation. Frankel, tough guy, was walking alone, weeping like a child. After that, everything about him made sense.
I haven’t read in the dozens of tributes from people - rival trainers, ex clients, even writers who likely were hits by his gruff character - who have said a bad word about the man in terms of his character as a trainer.
A superior horsemen
I have worked for Bobby, I galloped for him in for an extended period of time and spent lots of hours in his barn as my husband was his assistant for over three years! I too saw with my own eyes and seen first hand how he managed his horses and saw nothing like what has been posted to discredit him! He loved his horses and treated them like gold! He was very generous to his staff and people who didn’t even work for him! Ask Dottie his bookkeeper all the people who received checks from him weekly just because! I know this for a fact! He doesn’t deserve any negativity in my eyes! Just to rest in peace with Happy!!!
Well seeing as there were newspaper reporters taking notes while Frankel was spouting off about cutting them short and cutting the bruises out, I guess I will have to go look it up and copy /paste it here. And how did I know that someone would say “I used to work for him”…sorry not buying it. I know what I heard and saw. Granted it was in the 1980’s but still…
Wow. Knew this was coming, but still…
Rest in peace.
Just stop. You are coming off incredibly tasteless.
Why would anyone want to SORE a racehorse??? Like they aren’t hurting themselves enough on their own anyway? Makes no sense
" He also works closely with his blacksmiths; he likes to see his horses’ hooves trimmed down close and the bruises cut away". His words not mine but I saw the horses walk away after farrier was done. Bute does wonders for foot sore horse’s dosen’t it??? Guess we will never know the logic of “cutting them down close” now will we? Article written by Ernest HaveMann-Up from the Win Windows.
When Bobby was in the claiming game, I’m sure I did some of the things trainers do to throw off those who would claim of of them. That said…
I did know Bobby, though not well and saw how his horses were managed. If anything wasn’t perfect, they scratched. I was told that Bobby expected alot from his staff, but that they were among the best treated in the game. He had assistants and grooms that worked for him for years. He staked his grooms very well. When Chad Brown went out on his own, Bobby encouraged the Wests to support him with horses, even though some of them came from his own shedrow. Chad continued to reach out to Bobby and always got honest answers.
I am told that the reason that Prince Khalid Abdullah (owner of Juddmonte) came to the Breeders’ Cup was because he knew he’d never again see Bobby alive. Theirs was an “classic odd couple” pairing. The Jewish kid from NYC and the Saudi prince won hundreds of stakes races together, including Breeders’ Cup and American Classics.
I saw Bobby appear about to cry discussing Flute and Sightseek. Nothing made him smile like his sweet dog, Happy.
Kaleigh007 - Would you kindly post your real identity so that when you die we can all show up at the funeral and badmouth you? We have nothing but your word of mouth to go on here, and as you probably know, Mr. Frankel is unable to defend himself.
Like it or not, there ARE some unspoken netiquette rules, and you’ve broken a big one. If you really feel compelled to spill “the goods” on Mr. Frankel, why don’t you just start a thread about it? That way people can choose whether or not they want to read it, as opposed to stumbling across your “ugly truths” that are buried in this RIP thread.
Bad form all around.
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What we do know for certain is Bobby Frankel was human, flawed, and absolutely brilliant at what he did. His absence in this sport is a large one, and it will be felt by many for years and years to come.
I hope he now is in a pain-free place of peace. Godspeed, Bobby.
My condolences to Bobby’s family and friends. I had a feeling that the time was drawing near…what a shame.
Linny, operative word “I was told”…well I was there! I was not aware we were at a funeral here:rolleyes:. You are talking about someone’s legacy. How about injecting a little bit of truth. Do I REALLY have to do a search on here and see which one of you were attacking him left and right when he pulled ALL his horses from racing because of the “flu”? At the time he was being accused of illegal drug use(go figure) and miracles of all miracles ALL the horses recovered 48/72 hours later! Probably the same phenomonon that painted him as a skank in life yet miraculously turned him into a demi God in death. How funny how that happens on here. Yep, everything on here is all heresay but I would bet the ranch that the majority of you never met the man and only saw what the media showed you. Wonder how Bethany feels about her Dad dying, seeing as he was such a wonderful father as well as a horseman.:no:
Frankel bred/owned/trained the 2008 Hollywood Gold Cup winner Mast Track – who won in track-record time.
An impressive achievement.
baby bro to Mast Track
Mast Track’s full brother just sold as a weanling at Keeneland for 95K. THe husband wanted him…
