Robert Julian Frankel (July 9, 1941 – November 16, 2009) was an American
thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...
race horse
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic ...
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
called "one of the most successful and respected trainers in the history of thoroughbred racing."Privman, Jay "Robert Frankel Dies At 68"
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
, November 20, 2009. He was inducted into the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...
in 1995, and was a five-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer. Often referred to as "Bobby" by others, he preferred and always used "Robert". Frankel set the single-season world record for most Grade/Group I victories in 2003 with 25 Grade I wins, a record that stood until it was beaten by
Aidan O'Brien
Aidan Patrick O'Brien (born 16 October 1969 in County Wexford, Ireland) Aidan O'Brien bio NTRA ...
in 2017.
Early life and education
Frankel was born July 9, 1941, to a
German-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...
family in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
The Blood-Horse
''BloodHorse'' is a multimedia news organization covering Thoroughbred racing and breeding that started with a newsletter first published in 1916 as a monthly bulletin put out by the Thoroughbred Horse Association.
'', November 18, 2009. the son of Merrill and Gertrude Frankel. His parents were in the catering business. His interest in horses was piqued when his parents took him to
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905.
It is operated by the non-profit New York Raci ...
as a child. After high school, he enrolled at C.W. Post College on Long Island but soon quit after getting into a fight. Thereafter, he worked construction by day and
gamble
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...
d at the tracks by night, eventually volunteering as a hot walker so he could get a free pass to the evening races.
Career
Early in his career in 1960s
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, Frankel assisted the prominent trainer Buddy Jacobson. On his own, Frankel saddled his first winner late in 1966 before struggling somewhat in 1967, when he won with just 9 of 101 starters. During 1968 however, he won 36 of 165 outings with his horses accumulating $167,000 in purse money. In the next few years, he continued to prosper in New York and during the winter of 1970–71, he enjoyed some success at the West Coast meeting at Santa Anita.
After moving permanently to California in 1972, Frankel scored a series of wins that brought him to the attention of the horse-betting world, winning a record 60 races at Hollywood Park. Many of those victories came with runners he acquired as low-cost claimers for one of his owners like Edmund Gann, with whom he had a 30-year working relationship. These horses typically showed dramatic improvement under his care, sometimes winning their next start against higher-priced claiming levels.
Frankel was an avid follower of the training techniques of
Charlie Whittingham
Charles Edward Whittingham (April 13, 1913 – April 20, 1999) was an American Thoroughbred race horse trainer who is one of the most acclaimed trainers in U.S. racing history.
Early career
Born in Chula Vista, California, Whittingham began ...
, trainer of champions such as
Ferdinand
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
and
Sunday Silence
Sunday Silence (March 25, 1986 – August 19, 2002) was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In 1989, he won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes but failed to complete the Triple Crown when he was defeated in the Belmont ...
. Frankel won several
Eclipse Awards
The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse.
An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected American ...
, the year-end thoroughbred racing awards, for best trainer. He set earnings records, Grade I stakes victory records, and many others. Frankel also won the
Pacific Classic Stakes
The Pacific Classic Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older over a distance of one and one quarter miles on the dirt track scheduled annually in August at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The even ...
a record six times, including four times in a row, also a record.
Some of his best race horses include:
Squirtle Squirt
{{Infobox racehorse
, horsename = Squirtle Squirt
, image =
, caption =
, sire = Marquetry
, grandsire = Conquistador Cielo
, dam = Lost The Code
, damsire = Lost Code
, sex = Stallion
, foaled = 1998
, country = United States
, colo ...
, his first
Breeders' Cup
The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was ...
Pacific Classic Stakes
The Pacific Classic Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older over a distance of one and one quarter miles on the dirt track scheduled annually in August at Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. The even ...
;
Sightseek
Sightseek (foaled 1999 in Kentucky) is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse and current broodmare. She was bred and raced by Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms and was trained by Hall of Fame inductee Robert Frankel.
Background
Sightseek ...
, winner of the
Humana Distaff Handicap
The Derby City Distaff Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares aged three and older over a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt held annually in early May on the Kentucky Derby day meeting at Churchill Dow ...
(Gr. I) and
Ogden Phipps Handicap
The Ogden Phipps Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, four years of age and older run over a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt track held annually in mid June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New ...
(Gr. I); triple Grade I winner
Empire Maker
Empire Maker (April 27, 2000 - January 18, 2020)Belmont Stakes (Gr. I); multiple Grade I winning
Peace Rules
Peace Rules (bred and foaled in Florida at Newchance Farm on April 26, 2000), is a multiple Grade I-winning American Thoroughbred race horse. By Jules, a "black type" winner and classic sire in Brazil, Peace Rules' grandsire was Forty Niner, a ...
; two-time
Santa Anita Handicap
The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up and was once considered the most important race for old ...
(Gr. I) winner
Milwaukee Brew
Milwaukee Brew (foaled January 31, 1997 in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known as one of only three horses to win back-to-back runnings of the Santa Anita Handicap. He is retired and moved to Old Friends Equine in 2020.
...
;
Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf
The Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for fillies and mares, three years old and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States as part of the Breeders' Cup World Champions ...
(Gr. I) winner
Starine
Starine (April 26, 1997 – June 21, 2005) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse foaled in Orne who competed in France and in the United States.
Racing career
1999–2001 France
She made her racing debut for owner/breeder Catherine Dubois in ...
, whom he also owned; and
Ghostzapper
Ghostzapper (foaled April 6, 2000) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2004, outdistancing Roses in May by three lengths in a track record time of 1:59.02. His gate-to-wire Classic victory completed a 4-for-4 season, ...
, the
Breeders' Cup Classic
The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the s ...
(Gr. I) winner who was voted the 2004
Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to sanction the various awards, "Hor ...
Wild Desert
Wild Desert (foaled March 24, 2002 in Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2005 Queen's Plate, Canada's most prestigious race and North America's oldest annually run stakes race
Originally trained by Kenneth Mc ...
, owned by several businesspeople including former
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...
manager
Joe Torre
Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief bas ...
, gave Frankel his first victory in the $1 million
Queen's Plate
The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...
Woodbine Racetrack
Woodbine Racetrack is a race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group, Woodbine Racetrack manages and hosts Canada's most famous race, the King's Plate. The track ...
People Magazine
''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People'' had the l ...
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
of
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
descent who converted to
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
Bethenny Frankel
Bethenny Frankel (born November 4, 1970) is an American businesswoman, television personality, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and author. She starred in the Bravo television series ''The Real Housewives of New York City'', having appeared in eight ...
(born 1970), who later went on to become a television personality and businesswoman. They divorced after four years of marriage and Bernadette remarried another horse trainer
John Parisella
John Parisella is an American horse trainer known for training the racehorses ''Fight Over'' and ''Simply Majestic.'' He last raced during 2016 and by year's end had 1,241 career wins.
Early life and career
Parisella was born in Brooklyn
. Parisella and Frankel were originally friends as well as competitors.Pricci, John "A Brooklyn Tale" ''Horse Race Insider'', November 18, 2009.
In 2003, he 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
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
. Estranged from his daughter and once good friend (and step-father to Bethenny) Parisella, he reconciled with both before his death. He is interred at Hillside Memorial Park in
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...
.
Legacy
On November 1, 2014, Bobby's Kitten, named after the late Hall of Fame trainer, captured the
Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint
The Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint is a Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up. As its name implies, it is a part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year-end championship for North American ...
at
Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...
. Bobby's Kitten is owned and bred by
Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey
Kenneth L. "Ken" Ramsey (born 1935) and Sarah Kathern "Kitten" Ramsey (February 5, 1939 – May 29, 2022) are horse breeders and owners of Thoroughbred race horses. They have multiple graded stakes winners, three Breeders' Cup winners, and the R ...
, who were clients of Frankel. The
colt
Colt(s) or COLT may refer to:
* Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age
People
*Colt (given name)
*Colt (surname)
Places
* Colt, Arkansas, United States
*Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United State ...
is trained by Chad Brown, who was Frankel's New York assistant.
In 2010, the
San Gorgonio Handicap
The Robert J. Frankel Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares age three and older run over a distance of one and one-eighth miles (9 furlongs) on the turf track held annually in late Decemberat Santa Anita Park ...
- a race Frankel won eight times - was renamed the
Robert J. Frankel Memorial Handicap
The Robert J. Frankel Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares age three and older run over a distance of one and one-eighth miles (9 furlongs) on the turf track held annually in late Decemberat Santa Anita Park ...
in his honor.
In 2008 a colt from Juddmonte Stud was named
Frankel
Frankel is the surname of:
* Benjamin Frankel (1906–1973), British composer
* Bethenny Frankel (born 1970), American chef and reality television personality
* Charles Frankel (1917–1975), American philosopher, known for Charles Frankel Priz ...
in honour of the trainer. The colt, bred out of Galileo and Kind, was trained in Newmarket (England) by Sir
Henry Cecil
Sir Henry Richard Amherst Cecil (11 January 1943 – 11 June 2013) was a British flat racing horse trainer. Cecil was very successful, becoming Champion Trainer ten times and training 25 domestic Classic winners. These comprised four winners ...
, won all of his 14 starts, and received the highest rating ever awarded by the British publication ''
Timeform
Timeform is a sports data and content provider located in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Founded in 1948, it provides systematic information on form to punters and others involved in the horse racing industry. The company was purchased by ...
''. After his 14th win in October 2012, it was announced Frankel was to be retired to stud.
In 2004, he was inducted into the
Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distinguished themselves ...
NTRA
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) is a broad-based coalition of American horse racing interests consisting of leading thoroughbred racetracks, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with inc ...
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...