Respected horseman JJ Crupi dies at the age of 79

Respected horseman James 'JJ' Crupi, 79, the owner of New Castle Farm outside of Ocala, Florida, died on Thursday in Maryland after attending the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, according to an employee at the farm.

A trainer for more than 30 years, Crupi earned leading trainer titles at Monmouth Park four times and once at The Meadowlands.

In 1995, he started New Castle Farm, a state-of-the-art training facility on 200 acres that was formerly the site of Happy Valley Farm. His goal was to create an atmosphere and protocol that replicated the racetrack environment to ensure a smooth transition from training to life at the track, according to the farm's website.

Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming received his early training there, as did champion and multiple Grade 1 winner Uncle Mo and 2018 Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes winner Vino Rosso.

Crupi's New Castle Farm was regularly among the leading consignors of two-year-olds in training.

Crupi was a top-ten consignor by average price with pinhooked two-year-olds sold from 2014-18, with 141 sold averaging $183,138. His sharp eye for an athletic horse is evident in that nine per cent of the pinhooks he sold went on to become black-type winners. He was second-leading consignor with five per cent Graded stakes winners from horses sold among sellers offering 100 or more pinhooks, according to statistics compiled by BloodHorse MarketWatch.

In March, his consignment set off fireworks at the Gulfstream Sale, Fasig-Tipton's selected two-year-olds in training sale, where he topped the sale with a Curlin colt out of the Bernardini mare Achieving he sold for $3.65 million to agents Donanto Lanni and Jamie McCalmont, who bought the colt on behalf of MV Magnier.

Bred in Kentucky by Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings and St Elias Stables, the two-year-old chestnut is a half-brother to Group 1-placed Arabian Hope and stakes winner Counterforce. The colt worked an eighth-mile in :10 flat at the under-tack show.

"When you're breaking them, the good ones show up right away and the bad ones show up like a bad penny," Crupi said about the colt ahead of the sale. "You don't know how good they are until you start breaking them, but with him, we knew from the beginning he was really special."

Graded stakes winners sold by Crupi include Audible, Palace and Zensational - all of whom struck at the highest level - as well as Bella Bellucci, Engage, Madefromlucky, Maraud and Mopotism.

"JJ was a complete horsemen and able to do it all," said trainer Todd Pletcher, who conditioned Always Dreaming and several horses selected by Crupi for his clients Vincent Viola and Mike Repole. "The two horses who stand out for me in our association with JJ are Uncle Mo, who he selected as a yearling and always believed was a standout, and also Liam's Map. Now we can watch JJ's legacy live on through those two horses as top stallions. He was a dedicated horseman who cared about his horses and cared about his clients."

JJ Pletcher, who owns and operates Payton Training Center near Ocala, said the Florida horse community lost an outstanding horseman.

"He knew the business very well and bought a lot good horses for some good owners," said Pletcher, who is Todd Pletcher's father. "He was a good man, a good horseman, and he knew how to make money in the business. He was very good at picking the horses to pinhook, and that is not easy to do. It is a tough game to play, and he played it well."

During the first day of the Midlantic Sale on Monday, Crupi oversaw his consignment from his SUV parked in the stable area because he needed to have access to oxygen. He planned to soldier through the sale and then return to Florida, where he could be treated by his personal doctors.

By Tuesday, however, Crupi's health was in decline, and at the insistence of his longtime assistant, Monique Delk, the horseman was taken to the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for diagnosis and treatment. He died two days later.

Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning jnr remembered Crupi as a truly unique and generous person.

"He was an original out of a movie," he said. "It's nearly impossible to describe the personality. He was a character. He was one of those rare people who put a smile on everybody's face. He was great fun to be around, a horseman, and a wonderful human being. It is impossible to count the number of people he helped. If someone needed $1,000, he put it in their pocket. If they needed a kind word, he had it for them. It was rare for him to complain about anything that went wrong."

Browning said Crupi knew well the highs and lows of the industry, both as a trainer and consignor, and when the times were good, "He damn well knew how to celebrate successes, and with a huge crowd."

On Preakness Day, two days before this year's Midlantic sale, Crupi hosted a party for about 50 people in the lobby of the Residence Inn in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

"He bought all the food for everyone, and you knew it was Crupi's party," Browning said. "He was the life of the party."

Bob Elliston, Keeneland vice president of racing and sales, said Crupi will be sorely missed at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

"We will miss seeing him in September, sitting in his director's chair near the back walking ring," he said. "He was a fixture during Book 1 and a fixture during Book 6. That is the way he was, working hard for all his clients."

From a business standpoint, Crupi tried to live up to the motto of New Castle Farm: "No hassle at the Castle."

"He was one of the finest people to do business with," Browning said. "He wanted your opinion and he wanted to share his opinion. He was always fair and wanted to do right by his horses and by his customers. After all, there was no hassle at the castle."

For more news on US racing, sales and bloodstock news visit bloodhorse.com