Maurice Zilber (2 September 1920 – 21 December 2008) was a French

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them good behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which ...

born and raised in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

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to a Turkish mother and a French- Hungarian father. He trained horses in

from 1946 to 1962, and then moved to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

where he worked for another 43 years. Based at the

Chantilly Racecourse Chantilly Racecourse (In French: "Hippodrome de Chantilly") is a Thoroughbred grass, turf race track, racecourse for flat racing in Chantilly, Oise, France, about north of the centre of the city of Paris. Chantilly Racecourse is located in the ...

in France, Maurice Zilber conditioned horses for some of the leading owners such as Serge Fradkoff, Daniel Wildenstein,

Nelson Bunker Hunt Nelson Bunker Hunt (February 22, 1926 – October 21, 2014) was an American oil company executive. He was a billionaire whose fortune collapsed after he and his brothers William Herbert and Lamar tried to corner the world market in silve ...

and in later years, Prince Khalid Abdullah. His horses competed across Europe and in 1976 he accomplished the rare feat of training the winner of both the English Derby and the French Derby. Maurice Zilber also regularly brought horses to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

to compete in major grass races such as the Canadian International Championship Stakes at

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 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the Washington, D.C. International Stakes at Laurel Park Racecourse in the United States. Zilber won the Canadian International a record-tying three times and the Washington, D.C. International, on a record four occasions. An October 20, 1991 ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' article referred to him as "the illustrious French trainer whose work has become legend in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

." Maurice Zilber gained his most fame as the trainer for American owner/breeder Nelson Bunker Hunt with European-based horses such as U.S. Racing Hall of Famer inductees Exceller and

Dahlia ''Dahlia'' ( , ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. Dahlias are members of the Asteraceae (synonym name: Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants, its relatives include the sun ...

. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Zilber won back-to-back King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 1973 and 1974 with Dahlia, back-to-back Benson and Hedges Gold Cups in 1974 and 1975, again with Dahlia, and the 1976

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, more commonly known as the Derby and sometimes referred to as the Epsom Derby, is a Group races, Group 1 flat Horse racing, horse race in England open to three-year-old Colt (horse), colts and Filly, fillies. It is run at Ep ...

with Empery. Two of Zilber's horses won Eclipse Awards for their performances in the United States. The first was Hunt's

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

who was voted the American Champion Male Turf Horse of 1976 and the second was

Trillion ''Trillion'' is a number with two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000,000, i.e. one million 1,000,000, million, or (ten to the twelfth Exponentiation, power), as defined on the long and short scales, short scale. This is now the meaning in bot ...

, voted the 1979 American Champion Female Turf Horse. Maurice Zilber retired from training in 2005 and died at age 88 from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

.The ''Independent'' 30 January 2009 obituary for Maurice Zilber
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zilber, Maurice 1920 births 2008 deaths French horse trainers French people of Hungarian descent French people of Turkish descent Egyptian emigrants to France