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#3
11-16-2009, 04:35 PM
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Ah Bobby Frankel-- a true character and a lover of the horse as well as a great horseman--even in his last thoughts to give to equine charities in lieu of flowers ...
I have a personal connection with Bobby that will live on unfadingly ... I was the odd schoolgirl not simply horse crazy, but racing crazy, and as soon as I was of age and allowed to work, my best friend and I sought jobs at the track ... Women--or girls in our case--were rare at the track then and given short shrift ... You had to prove yourself daily ... Neither one of us grew up riding or even around horses, but Frankel hired us as a team--the entry ... He made you work, but if he saw you had a feel and love for horses, his gruff side got toned down ... He was at Aqueduct then--the low rent district--with a barn full of claimers, yet they all were treated as individuals and with great care ... A favorite was an old grey gelding stakes horse, Baitman, who thought he was two, blasting around the shedrow dragging his handlers ... Because he was not really a mean horse and a good breadwinner, Bobby never allowed any more than mild corrections with the horse ... When we showed up, we always got Baitman to hotwalk, because the male workers could get frustrated with him, and we didn't---Frankel got a kick out of that ... My favorite memory of Bobby however was not at the track ..,. My friend and I took night art classes during this period and afterwards hitchiked home so we could eavesdrop at the apartment of a certain gentleman jockey who lived off Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills ... We were such regulars with our thumbs out, that we had repeat rides---Burt another night schooler who drove a 1940s Packard, and Hydee the taxi driver who made us stand up in the cab so the meter wouldn't register ..,. One night we were long on the side of the ride when a Cadillac signalled to pull over--at last a ride and a fancy one ... But suddenly there was a huge crash--the car behind plowed into the rear of the Caddy ... Out popped the driver---it was Bobby Frankel who saw his hotwalkers hitchiking in all their hippy glory ... He turned his head to see if the driver behind would stay put ... " Get in the car ", he said, but we knew--as New Yorkers--what was coming ... " Get in the car " he repeated, still calm ... Then out came his arm, finger pointing at the driver behind, and the inevitable insults and expletives burst forth ... We didn't know whether to laugh or not, because the juxtaposition of words and reactions were such theatre . One more time he ordered us into in the car calmly, had a few more words for the driver cowering behind, surveyed the unwanted sculpture on the Caddy's rear fender, waved the other driver on, and drove off with us ... He took us to Far Rockaway to his parents house--where I believe he still lived--and had us in to meet the folks for a schmooz and a snack, and drove us home . Sort of surreal .. I saw him two years ago with a woman at Saratoga and we looked at each other with recognition ... Now I am sorry I did not speak to him ... He was truly one of racing's good guys with a real love for the horse as a sentient being, not just a racehorse or a money maker .,.. Godspeed Bobby ... 
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#4
11-16-2009, 04:45 PM
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Quote:
Very sweet...Congrats you served yourself well!
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#6
11-16-2009, 03:58 PM
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Just found out.....RIP Bobby
__________________
"Change can be good, but constant change shows no direction" http://www.hickoryhillhoff.blogspot.com/
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