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 c ...

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 pr ...

trainer whom

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"

, 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 The Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor for trainers. Created in 1971, it is part of the Eclipse Awards program and is awarded annually. Its Canadian counterpart is the Sovereign Award for Outstandin ...

. 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. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

,Bloodhorse: "Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel Dies at 68" by Steve Haskin
''

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 Racin ...

as a child. After high school, he enrolled at

C.W. Post College LIU Post (formally, the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and often referred to as C.W. Post) is a private university in Brookville, New York. It is the largest campus of the private Long Island University system. The campus is nam ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

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 elem ...

d at the tracks by night, eventually volunteering as a

hot walker A hot walker within the practice of horse management is a person such as a groom or stable worker who hand walks hot, sweaty horses after a workout, particularly after work on a racetrack. The term hot walker may also refer to a mechanical devi ...

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 List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, 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 A purse is a small bag that may refer to: * Coin purse, small pouch made for carrying coins * Handbag, in American English * Money bag * Wallet Purse may also refer to: * Purse (horse racing), the total amount of money paid out to the owners o ...

. 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 Hollywood Park may refer to: Places United States * Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California * Hollywood Park, Chicago, a neighborhood in North Park, Chicago, Illinois * Hollywood Park, Inglewood, an entertainment complex and m ...

. 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 w ...

, 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 Great Britain, British racehorse and Father, sire, Eclipse (horse), Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is ...

, 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 , co ...

, his first

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, ...

winner; Skimming, two-time winner of the Grade 1

;

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 Down ...

(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 The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed Th ...

(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 s ...

; 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. B ...

;

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 Championship ...

(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 for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October o ...

(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 ...

. Frankel was the U.S. Champion Trainer by earnings in 2002 and 2003. On June 26, 2005, Wild Desert, owned by several businesspeople including former

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

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 baseb ...

, 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 ...

, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown 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 ...

Personal life and death

Frankel was married twice. His first wife was Bernadette Birk (b. 1950)McNeil, Liz
"Bethenny Frankel: Love Saved My Life"
''

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 (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People ...

'', July 19, 2010. Frankel, Bethenny
''A Place of Yes: 10 Rules for Getting Everything You Want Out of Life''
Birk was a

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 lette ...

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 peop ...

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 ...

when they married.Video Interview on BravoTV: "After Show: All About Baby – Part V: Bethenny talks about her religious background and the most important thing Baby Bryn has taught her"
Bravo TV. Retrieved July 4, 2012. "My father was Jewish. The story goes – because you know I am not that close to my family, I am not there for the real history lessons – He married my mother and she converted to Judaism for him. She was Catholic but then she was with my stepfather for all those years. I went to Catholic school and I know more about that." They had one daughter

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 d ...

Legacy

On November 1, 2014,

Bobby's Kitten Bobby's Kitten (foaled March 30, 2011 in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2014 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. A dark bay or brown colt sired by Kitten's Joy, and homebred by his owners Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, he is tra ...

, 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 ...

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 States ...

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 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 Prize * ...

in honour of the trainer. The colt, bred out of

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

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 o ...

, 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 ...

.Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame: Bobby Frankel
Retrieved July 4, 2012.

References

External links

Bobby Frankel Remembered

Bobby Frankel
at the

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 incr ...

Robert Frankel biography
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frankel, Robert J. 1941 births 2009 deaths American racehorse trainers Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from leukemia Eclipse Award winners Sportspeople from Brooklyn United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Jewish American sportspeople Levites American Ashkenazi Jews 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews