Hall Of Fame Trainer Frankel, 68, Dead From Complications Of Lymphoma

November 16, 2009 8:17 p.m. EST

Pacific Palisades, CA (AHN) - Bobby Frankel, the Hall of Fame trainer, died Monday morning from complications of lymphoma.

Frankel was a five-time winner of racing's Eclipse Award for outstanding trainer, and he captured 30 training titles.

He was 68.

"He was a great horseman and was unique in his training," trainer Al Stall Jr., who stabled near Frankel's barn at Saratoga, told Horse Racing News. "He trained his horses one morning at a time and he wasn't afraid to change things midstream, the same morning even, and it worked. His horses looked wonderful on the racetrack. They were nice horses to start, of course, but they sure always looked the part."

His horses were also on the money, as he was second all-time on the earnings list to D. Wayne Lukas at $227,947,775 in purses.

Frankel was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1995

The New Yorker became a giant in California horse racing circles, notching 952 wins at Hollywood Park and 917 victories at Santa Anita.

Frankel also befriended people like classy Yankees, now Dodgers, manager Joe Torre along the way.

Torre said his friend was blunt at times, but he valued his fellow Brooklynite's opinions.