A WINNER…BUT NOT AT ALL COSTS
By Ray Paulick
I had always been intimidated by trainer Bobby Frankel until I had the opportunity to spend some time with him in Tokyo in 2001 when he sent Amerman Racing Stable’s Lido Palace there for the second running of the Japan Cup Dirt.
With just that one horse to care for in Japan, he was more a tourist than a horseman that week. Unmarried at the time, he brought a former assistant trainer, Fred Cogan, as his guest (the Japan Racing Association allows each trainer to bring a spouse or guest at the JRA’s expense), and the three of us wound up palling around for much of the week, talking more about life than horses.
The lobby of the Keio Plaza Hotel was our gathering place, where it seemed there always was a wedding going on or one about to happen. Frankel was fascinated by the fact so many Japanese couples had Western-style weddings, and on the drive to the track one morning he opened a discussion about religion, wondering how a Buddhist society yielded so many weddings that looked like Christian ceremonies in America.
“What religion are you?” I asked, knowing that he was born Jewish.
“I’m one of those…what do you call them…they don’t really believe in anything.”
“Atheist?” Cogan asked.
“No, no,” he said. “I’m just not really sure….you know…aga…aga-something.”
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“Agnostic?” I said.
“Yeah, that’s it,” he said. “Aga-nostic. I really don’t know what to believe. How can anyone really know, you know what I mean?”
The discussion continued about religion and prayer, and Frankel volunteered that there was only one time in his career that he asked God for some help in winning a horse race, when Keeper Hill ran in the 1999 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland. The filly was owned by John and Alice Chandler of Mill Ridge Farm and trainer Shug McGaughey. “I made a deal with God,” he said, “that if Keeper Hill won that race I would donate all of my winnings to charity. He kept his end of the bargain and so did I.”
I didn’t ask Frankel why he chose that particular horse and race to pray to a God he wasn’t sure existed, but I had my suspicions. Shortly after Keeper Hill had won, there were rumors that the filly was given a milkshake before the race (a loading of bicarbonates), something that might not have gone over very well with Alice Chandler, who had been leading the fight to tighten Kentucky’s then-lax medication rules.
“Keeper Hill…wasn’t there some story about her getting a milkshake before the Spinster?” I asked Frankel. He didn’t say yes or no, but his answer told me all I needed to know. “It wasn’t illegal,” he said, stretching that last word out in a way that only a native New Yorker could.
He was right. Milkshakes weren’t prohibited by the Kentucky Racing Commission until 2001 (they were banned in every other state, except Louisiana), and there were many people, including a number of veterinarians, who felt they were good for horses, since it was a natural substance that prevented lactic acid buildup and kept a horse from tiring, which is when many injuries occur. Frankel, if he did have a milkshake administered to Keeper Hill, didn’t break any rules.
Frankel admitted during the course of another conversation that he would use every legal edge available to win a race, as long as it didn’t do any harm to the horse. While in Japan that year, he checked with JRA officials to see what type of racing plates could be used for Lido Palace. “If I lost by that much,” he said, holding his thumb and index finger an inch apart, “and didn’t take advantage of whatever was legal, I wouldn’t be able to sleep.”
Lido Palace ran a clunker in Japan, finishing far behind Kurofune in a mystifying performance. I don’t think Frankel slept very well that night, and it wasn’t because of jet lag. Over breakfast the next morning, he said he thinks he messed up when he tightened the girth on Lido Palace, cinching it so tight the horse might have had trouble breathing properly.
Frankel was as competitive as anyone in the sport, celebrating the wins in style but also suffering through the losses. He was always looking for an edge, but drew the line if the result could be harmful to his horses. During his record-setting year in 2003 when he won 25 Grade 1 races and set a new earnings mark for trainers, rumors ran rampant that he was “juicing” his horses with a blood-doping agent called Epogen.
I called him, told him about the rumors I’d been hearing, and asked if it was true. “How stupid do you think I am?” he said. “I’ve got the best training job in this business with Juddmonte. You think I would do something to risk that?
“That shit kills horses,” he said. “I don’t use any of that stuff–anabolic steroids–anything that’s harmful to a horse.”
The loss of Frankel leaves a big void in our sport. He was as colorful as anyone I’ve ever known. His record of accomplishment speaks for itself and brought him fame around the world, gaining him entry into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame.
But his love for the horses he trained will punch Frankel’s ticket to heaven—if there is such a place. After all, who really knows?
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: Alice Chandler, Amerman Racing Stable, bobby frankel, Fred Cogan, japan cup dirt, John Chandler, Keeper Hill, Keio Plaza Hotel, Lido Palace, National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick, robert frankel, shug mcgaughey
November 17th, 2009 at 10:00 am
” … heaven—if there is such a place. After all, who really knows?”
Wow! After watching such beauties such as Secretariat, Alydar and Affrimed, Seattle Slew, Ruffian, Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, how can one NOT believe in God?
Love your honesty and forthrightness in bringing any and every subject to the light!
November 17th, 2009 at 10:07 am
I have great respect for Frankel’s training ability, having watched him for many years. But I’m afraid that the distinction you are trying to make is ridiculously weak. It was OK for him to use milkshakes – an extremely powerful performance enhancer – simply because the authorities were slow to outlaw them? By that logic, it was just fine and dandy for several of the sport’s “top” trainers to have used Epogen (and similar blood-doping agents) until they were banned. In fact, it should be just fine for any trainer right now to use any drug that hasn’t been identified and therefore isn’t technically illegal. Isn’t that right Ray?
You really couldn’t have tumbled down a more slippery slope.
Frankel was cheating, plain and simple. And as to your vets who “felt they were good for horses”, give me a friggin’ break. A) they were making plenty of money off of the procedure, and B) do you think that it is good for a horse to run faster than it is naturally designed to run? How absurd.
Oh, I forgot, “all natural”. Well gee, growth hormones are “natural” as well. Let’s use ‘em!
November 17th, 2009 at 10:26 am
I arrived at the 2002 Belmont Stakes draw breakfast late to the table as usual, having slightly miscalculated the drive time from Washington, D.C. to the Terrace dining room. When I walked in, and finished the credentials dance, the breakfast was breaking up and the reporters had begun their swarm around the principals, hoping to fill notebooks and recorders up with enough quotes for several stories. There was a big crowd around Bobby Frankel and I flung my laptop under a table and joined the fray, trying to squeeze in among the trees to hear what he was saying. Medaglia d’Oro, a big, strapping son of a bitch, had been a tiring fourth in the Kentucky Derby and crushed in the Preakness, yet Frankel was pressing on to the 1 1/2-mile Belmont. He told the reporters, “I really wanted to win the Derby and Preakness but now I just want to see him run a good race.” Horseshit, I thought; of course he wants to win the Belmont, and I vowed right there to bet Medaglia d’Oro on Saturday. The day of the race, I wheeled him, at 16-1 I believe, top and bottom with the rest of the field. He dueled the unheralded 70-1 shot Sarava through the stretch and just got beat, triggering the biggest exacta payout in Belmont Stakes history. Energized, of course, and with plenty time before my deadline, I beat it right out of the press box and down to the barns. Like Ray, I ,too, was intimidated by Frankel. I had called him once during the Triple Crown and said, “Bobby, it’s John Scheinman, just one question and I’ll let you go.” I asked the question and his answer, cryptic, demanded a follow-up. “That’s two questions,” he said, and the interview was over. I found Frankel’s barn and it was dead silent. I tiptoed in, and there he was, alone, staring at the wall, demoralized. He didn’t sense my presence and that old fear welled up, but I had a job to do, and I entered as humbly as possible. He graciously gave me a short interview, which I deeply appreciated. The following year, he won everything in sight. My favorite times with Frankel were at the Kentucky Derby. Right on the grounds at Churchill Downs, he would blast the paltry value of the purse of America’s great race, for years saying he hoped some small casino track would put on a $5 million stakes for 3-year-olds the first Saturday in May. He loved that Garden State had stolen away Spend a Buck from the Triple Crown with a Jersey Derby bonus scheme because he thought the Triple Crown races should be at least equal in value to the Dubai World Cup. The Derby has since been fortified by Churchill Downs. Frankel never won it, but there was little else he didn’t win. A cool presence in the game, and even before yesterday he had been missed.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:41 am
In defense of Frankel and his possible use of a milkshake when it was legal. I have done that as well. It is no panacea and can only be of some value if you are starting a fit horse ready to win. It can never cause an inferior horse to win. Once more, the more you use a milkshake the less effective it will become in a horse.
As far as the common wisdom that it works by counteracting lactic acid build up: Lactic acid build-up in athletic activity is actually a good thing! That the myth that we have been told all of our lifes that Lactic acid (lactate) causes muscle fatigue is false. An NPR radio piece of a few years ago, goes on to say that lactic acid actually helps tired muscle fibers to continue functioning. Without it, they would shut down much faster! Dr. David Allen, a Dr. Lamm (msp?), and a Dr. Brooks (msp?) were all quoted with scientific work suggesting the same thing. Dr. Lamm found that lactic acid stimulates electrical activity in tired muscle a lot longer than it would otherwise sustain without it. They go on to say that in some cases, high lactic acid levels may contribute slightly to muscle fatigue, but mostly it is very small and the real culprit is large amounts of phosphate and potassium. The NPR piece:
http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3861103 (click on the “Morning Edition Audio”)
Also, for those of you more scientifically oriented and would like to read one of Dr. Allen’s studies on this:
http://www.scienceonline.org/cgi/content/summary/305/5687/1112
November 17th, 2009 at 11:00 am
” It can never cause an inferior horse to win.”
There was really no point in continuing after having made such an absurd assertion.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:17 am
Ray:
Thanks for the personal story and thanks for letting PR fans say their piece.
I have a friend that knew Mr. Frankel in the early NY days. Very early yesterday I called to say that Frankel was dead. We all knew of his illness. The first thing out of his mouth was, “he was a tough son of a bitch (coming from another tough SOB, that was saying something)….but he was one helluva trainer”. It was also added that his horses came first.
I guess, factoring in Mr. Frankel’s record, a person can’t argue with that.
Condolences to his family, connections and fans….and to the industry. We can never have enough “good guys”.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Jeremy:
We get your point…I’ll add it wasn’t illegal back then and may have even been considered therapuetic at one time. After all, we ain’t talkin’ cobra venom here.
I said earlier that he had his fans/supporters and detractors. And frankly, I don’t think he was keeping a tally sheet for those in the first place. He did what he thought proper for his horses and his part in that game we call the Sport of Kings.
The man is gone, let him rest in peace. His record speaks for itself….let it go.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
You’re right, Bobby could be intimidating to an outsider. I had the chance to interview him a number of times while a correspondent for The Bloodhorse. I loved that he came to the Bay Area with his horses, unlike many trainers that shipped in to win the big races but were unavailable afterward. Granted, when I usually talked to Bobby, he’d just won a graded stakes and was feeling pretty good. But he always had time to say something worthwhile, something thoughtful or thought provoking. Sometimes New Yorkers would come out of the woodwork, surround the winner’s circle, to get a glimpse, and, as only they can, shout out a name or a place, or some other shared secret. Bobby could really smile when he wanted to.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Ray, this was an honest piece and every word rings true. I believe every word Bobby said to you.
I guess we’d all better think carefully about what we say to you, since you are like an elephant and have the power of the pen!
I know your policy is not to remove posts unless necessary, but under the circumstances, couldn’t you take down those inappropriate postings by Jeremy?
November 17th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Frankel was a character that you either loved or hated. He commanded respect, but he also left himself wide open. Very similar in many ways to Dr. Alex Harthill. There was plenty to love and plenty to disparage. And, like Harthill, he was the best at what he did.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Not to argue, but Jeremy’s point of view is perfectly appropriate and shared by many. He is simply stating that: just because a medication or treatment is legal doesn’t automatically make it RIGHT. Using anything you find that gives an advantage is putting what’s best for the horse behind what’s best for the pocket. That’s not a crime. It’s not a badge of Honor either. That said, I am a huge fan of Frankel’s, my condolences to his family.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Priscilla –
So you find it inappropriate to speak honestly about someone who has recently died? That is very sad.
I liked Bobby, and admired a number of his qualities. I am sorry that he suffered through illnesses, and that he died early. But pretending that he was something that he was not is, ironically, antithetical to what he believed. He was outspoken, and often had little regard for conventions.
Emphasizing positive aspects of a recently deceased person’s life is fine, and generally appropriate. But frankly, Ray is the one who brought up the subject at hand, and it is anything but inappropriate to flesh out that discussion honestly.
Anyone who knew Bobby would understand that he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Priscilla: I don’t want the comments down. They are a reflection of the daily sturggle that is life and eventually history. Sometimes we make good calls, sometimes we don’t…nobody comes out of the game of life clean….last one I heard of was JC, but there are arguments for others that did their best (but that’s of course, my Catholic rhetoric…of which Mr. Frankel had no part or committment to anything religious). Funny and ironic that he wouldn’t deny gods or subscibe to them…just himself and his horses. Maybe that is testimony, in and of itself.
Jeremy: He was never anyhting but that what of which he was…pimples, warts and beautiful accomplishments AND all. I don’t think anyone here is saying he was a perfect god. He was simply a special person in the game of horse racing, made a significant contribution and a hard-ass to boot. Can’t that be worth something at the end of life?
At the expiration of special people, humanity takes the time out to say thank you. You choose one focus, I choose another.
November 17th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
he left NY back in the day because of medication violations. he liked to get an edge, and very often illegally. sorry he is gone, but he pulled many a stunt in this game.
November 17th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Bobby loved animals, especially horses. As he said to Ray, he would never do anything harmful to a horse, and I believe him. Milkshakes help a horse’s endurance, not his speed. They are electrolytes, and they help muscles recover faster after a race. They help prevent horses from tying up, which is a very painful condition. They help tired muscles in a race and so the industry has decided that this extra edge should be illegal, but no vet has ever said that it is harmful to horses.
Bobby said that if he were beaten an inch and did not take advantage of every safe, legal edge, he could not sleep at night. That was his dedication to the game, to his owners, to his jockey, to his grooms, exercise riders, assistant trainers, all of whom benefitted by the job Bobby did with his horses. How many of his fine stake horses had long, successful, healthy careers? He took very good care of his horses.
For you who are criticizing the dead now when it serves no purpose, I hope you have no sins of your own that will be discussed at your funeral, or worse, in a public forum. It is cold, mean-spirited, and shows a tremendous lack of compassion for Bobby’s loved ones who may read what you have written.
November 17th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
I READ A FEW PEOPLES COMMENTS ON HERE.”.BLOOD DOPING” ONE WRITES, ANOTHER STATES “CHEATING & etc..
first of all THAT TERMINOLOGY IS STUPID…EPOGEN IS A HUMAN INJECTIBLE DRUG USED TO CORRECT A “LOW “RED BLOOD” COUNT. ————-
I HAVE USED IT IN HORSES THAT HAD LOW RED BLOOD & HEMATOCRIT LEVELS.
ITS CALLED “ANEMIC: TO THE LAYMAN…..
CHEATING…WELL THE NEWBEES CALL IT THAT BUT IN THE YESTERYEAR I WAS CALLED IT “HELPING” I GUESS PEOPLE THAT JUST CAME AROUND IN THE 70′S OR 80′S
THOUGHT IT JUST STARTED..ITS BEEN GOING ON SINCE THE 1800′S…AND ON ANOTHER NOTE: IT DOEST MAKE THE HORSE RUN FASTER,JUST LETS HIM RUN UP TO WHAT HE IS CAPABLE OF…
YES..I KNEW BOBBY…BACK IN 1971 AT A RESTAURANT IN MARLBORO MD..IN THERE FOR A LATE BREAKFAST “BOBBY WAS SITTING BEHIND ME IN ANOTHER BOOTH WITH A GIRL & WAS TELLING HER HE WAS GOING TO CALIFORNIA AND SHOW EVERONE OUT THERE HOW HE WAS GOING TO BREAK ALL RECORDS & BE THE TOP TRAINER OUT THERE & ALOT MORE *********…AND I GUESS HE DID.. I ALWAYS SAID THAT TODD,BOBBY,NICK, STEVE & D.WYANE HAD THE BEST CLEANEST,LOOKING SHEDROWS & STALLS I HAVE EVER BEEN IN..THIS GAME LOST A GOOD ONE YESTERDAY
November 17th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Mr. Levey –
You don’t have the slightest idea what you are talking about. For starters, I’d suggest that you review the history of EPO as it relates to professional cycling – a sordid, sad, and very well documented nexus.
Trainers who have used EPO on racehorses, with exceedingly few exceptions, used it on healthy animals in order to create a surplus of oxygen carrying blood cells. There’s a reason that it is outlawed: it’s a dangerous and potent performance enhancer.
November 17th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Jeremy
Give it a rest, idiot! We want to talk about Mr.Frankel.This is not a forum about drugs.Stop acting like you know everything and go away.This bit is for Mr.Frankel.If you have nothing nice to say,then don’t say anything,because we don’t give a damn about you!!!
November 17th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
there are some that never had a real job,never been in the active military,always a professional student who read a lot of books & maybe wrote 1 or 2. & now is an expert & a JACK OF ALL TRADES & MASTER OF ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING..MAYBE 40 OR 50 & STILL WET
November 17th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
BF was a good guy, Several years ago my wife and I had occasion to be on the HOL backside, and my wife would tease him about the TV ad he did with Jerry Bailey. I would cringe, and think, “honey you don’t tease Bobby Frankel.” BF rolled with the joke and had a good laugh. Flute was my favorite BF trained horse.
It was aways fun to be in the racing office at Saratoga, and see BF watching his entries run on the moniter. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t think BF ever watched a race from the grandstand.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:53 am
Best Frankel story:
Frankel’s first wife married trainer John Parisella.
Mr. A: how good a trainer is Frankel?
Mr. B: how good a trainer is Frankel?
Mr. A: yeah.
Mr. B: How good a trainer is Frankel? Bobby Frankel is such a good trainer, he even got his wife claimed!
November 18th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Would like to share a poem by “Banjo” Patterson
But he’s old and his eyes are grown hollow
Like me, with my thatch of the snow:
When he dies, then I hope I may follow,
And go where the racehorses go.
I don’t want no harping nor singing-
Such things with my style don’t agree:
Where the hooves of the horses are ringing
There’s music sufficient for me.
And surely the thoroughbred horses
Will rise up again and begin
Fresh races on far-away courses.
And p’aps they might let me slip in.
It would look rather well the race card on
Mongst Cherubs and Seraphs and things.
Angel Harrison’s black gelding Pardon
Blue halo, white body and wings.
And if they have thoroughbred racing hereafter,
(And who is to say they will not?)
When the Cheers & Shouting & Laughter
Proclaim that the battle grows hot:
As they come down the racecourse a steering,
He’ll rush to the front, I believe;
And you’ll hear the multitude cheering
For Pardon, the son of Reprieve.
November 18th, 2009 at 11:57 am
This piece is a thinly veiled, cowardly attack on a man who is no longer alive to deny or confirm the author’s account. Mr. Paulick, if you possessed this knowledge for all these years, why didn’t you come forth with it when Mr. Frankel was living? How despicable that you chose to “share” this before the ink was dry on his death certificate. Whatever the truth may be regarding Bobby Frankel’s faith and training, you have shown yourself as a man capable of small, vindictive and shameful tendencies. May this writing serve as a warning to all who befriend you. Ray Paulick lies in wait, ready to take aim when you have no way to defend yourself. SHAME ON YOU.
November 18th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Cloudnine….
If Mr. Frankel were here to comment, I’m sure he would acknowledge each statement being accurate(and Fred Cogan, who is still with us, would confirm much of what was written, because he was there, too). I doubt that Mr. Frankel would feel as though this is an attack–cowardly or otherwise–but rather a portrayal of him as a fierce competitor who put winning ahead of just about everything but his love of the animals he trained. At that time of his life, faith was not a priority, but things can change.
You certainly have a right to interpret the article anyway you wish.
November 18th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Mr. Paulick,
The fact remains that Mr. Frankel is not here to give his side. You had every opportunity and venue to write this type of story while he was living , but instead made the deliberate, and one can assume calculated, choice to publish it on the very day he died. Trust me when I say, I’m not alone in my interpration. By the way, I’m fairly confident Mr. Frankel would have considered it an attack and you would have found yourself on the outside of his “circle” looking in. Perhaps, that’s why we’re just now reading about this all important revelation?
November 18th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
While I was critical of some aspects of Ray’s piece (see above), I can also confirm the accuracy of the milkshaking. Bobby spoke frankly about it on more than one occasion in my presence, and I give him credit for having been more upfront about the issue than most of his competitors. Having said that, it was the wrong to have used performance enhancing materials, irrespective of their legal status at the time.
November 18th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Would someone tell Eugene Levey that he doesn’t have to YELL!!!!!
November 18th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
This “revelation” is nothing of the sort to those who are in the game. In fact, there are precious few big-name trainers who haven’t “taken an edge” at one time or another, and several of them built their reputations on runners fueled by performance enhancing drugs.
November 18th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
IF SOME OF U DO>GOODERS KNEW BOBBY AS WELL AS I DID, THE STUFF THAT RAY WROTE WOULD’NT BOTHER HIM A BIT…ONE TIME I CALLED BOBBY & ASKED HIM TO TAKE A NEW 2 YR OLD FOR GEORGE “S” .HE STARTED TO LAUGH & SAID” I DONT WANT TO BE BOTHERED EVERY DAY WITH A PHONE CALL FROM HIM…I SAID> IF I DECIDE TO SEND HIM,I WILL GURANTEE YOU HE WILL NEVER CALL YOU…..BOBBY THEN SAID ” I DONT BELIEVE IT” I SAID GEORGE HAD ME SEND THE COLT TO “BAFFERT”
I THEN CALLED BOBBY & TOLD HIM HE DIDNT MISS ANYTHING…THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY BOTHERED BOBBY WAS LOSING A RACE THAT HE REALLY THOUGHT HE SHOULD HAVE WON…ON ANOTHER NOTE> I LIKE CAPITAL LETTERS