So good they named a horse after him – not a bad horse either

You don't get the best horse in British racing history named after you without being some kind of legend – and Bobby Frankel was certainly a legend.

The irascible but much loved trainer, whose world record for top-level victories in a single season has just been eclipsed by Aidan O'Brien, was one of the most respected figures in the modern era of US racing.

Best known in Europe as the American trainer for Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte operation, Frankel was a leading handler in the States for four decades before his death in California in November 2009 at the age of 68 after a long battle with leukaemia.

Such was his relationship with Abdullah that the owner was to name a certain promising Sir Henry Cecil-trained colt after him – Frankel, the horse, duly went on to a celebrated unbeaten career to enter racing folklore.

The trainer was associated with a succession of American champions, notably Breeders' Cup Classic winner Ghostzapper and others like Bertrando and Ginger Punch. Five times champion trainer, he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1995.

Known as Bobby to others, though he preferred Robert himself, Frankel was a native Brooklynite who started off playing the claiming game in New York before achieving fame as a trainer after moving to California in the early 1970s via a succession of training titles at Hollywood Park and Santa Anita.

He won at least one Grade 1 event every year from 1988 until his death; fittingly, his final Grade 1 win in October 2009 came with Juddmonte's Champs Elysees in the Canadian International at Woodbine, much of Frankel's success having come with similar former European turf performers.

According to Equibase statistics, Frankel won 3,654 races from 17,657 starters in North America, where his horses earned $227,912,709, sixth on the all-time money list behind Todd Pletcher. Such was his dominance in California that fellow trainer Julio Canani nicknamed him 'Presidente' in admiration.

Although the Kentucky Derby eluded Frankel, his CV is littered with major victories including six Breeders' Cup races.

He also won the Japan Cup in 1988 with Pay The Butler, plus several major races with ex-European-trained horses such as dual Pacific Classic winner Tinners Way (originally with John Gosden), Arlington Million winners Chester House and Beat Hollow (both ex-Henry Cecil), and Breeders' Cup winner Ventura (formerly with Amanda Perrett).

A list of Frankel's big-race wins on the west coast could virtually fill a telephone directory, headed by the Grade 1 jewels in the Californian crown: Del Mar's Pacific Classic six times, the Santa Anita Handicap (three), Hollywood Gold Cup (three), Hollywood Turf Cup (four).

Frankel won the first of five Eclipse awards as champion trainer in 1993, then repeated the dose seven years later, the first of four successive titles. He established the record mark for most Group or Grade 1 winners in a single season in 2003, when he recorded 25 victories at the top level, all of them in the US, featuring 14 different horses.

The prolific Juddmonte dirt filly Sightseek was the most successful of the contributors with four Grade 1 wins, while top three-year-old Empire Maker won three, among them the Belmont Stakes, the only success Frankel ever enjoyed in a Triple Crown race. In the process, he thwarted Funny Cide's Triple Crown bid.

Frankel's 2003 tally did not feature any Breeders' Cup victories, although the 2004 Classic winner Ghostzapper – the best horse he ever trained – recorded a runaway success in the Vosburgh at Belmont Park. Top sprinter-miler Aldebaran won three Grade 1s for the Niarchos family, while Juddmonte turf females Heat Haze and Tates Creek won a couple each, as did leading three-year-old Peace Rules.

An obituary in the Daily Racing Form offered an insight into Frankel's personality.

"Frankel was known as a bit of a grouch, one who complained long and loud when he saw something wrong," it said. "He could be playful and witty one moment, a pitbull the next. But his gruff exterior masked a man who would get choked up when misfortune befell one of his horses."

BOBBY FRANKEL'S 25 GRADE 1 WINS IN 2003

March Milwaukee Brew Santa Anita Hcap Santa Anita

MarchAldebaran San Carlos HcapSanta Anita

MarchEmpire Maker Florida DerbyGulfstream Park

AprilEmpire Maker Wood MemorialAqueduct

AprilPeace Rules Blue GrassKeeneland

MaySightseek Humana DistaffChurchill Downs

MayTates Creek Gamely HcapHollywood Park

MayAldebaran Met MileBelmont Park

June Denon Manhattan HcapBelmont Park

JuneEmpire Maker Belmont StakesBelmont Park

June Sightseek Ogden Phipps HcapBelmont Park

JuneSpoken Fur Mother GooseBelmont Park

JulySpoken Fur CCA OaksBelmont Park

JulyMegahertz John C Mabee HcapDel Mar

JulySightseek Go For WandSaratogaSightseek

AugustMedaglia D'Oro Whitney HcapSaratoga

AugustPeace Rules Haskell InvitationalMonmouth Park

AugustHeat Haze Beverly DArlington Park

AugustAldebaran Forego HcapSaratoga

SeptWild Spirit Ruffian HcapBelmont Park

SeptGhostzapper VosburghBelmont Park

SeptTates Creek Yellow RibbonSanta Anita

OctSightseek BeldameBelmont Park

NovContinuously Hollywood Turf CupHollywood Park

NovHeat Haze MatriarchHollywood Park

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