Richard Hazelton, who transitioned from a successful career as a jockey to become a perennial leading trainer on the Chicago circuit, passed away Tuesday. The father of TVG personality Scott Hazelton, Richard Hazelton was 88 years old.
The elder Hazelton was the leading rider at Agua Caliente Racetrack in 1945 in a colony that also included the likes of Johnny Longden, according to a video recently posted on Twitter by TVG.
“He had a fake ID that was supposed to allow him ride that year at Del Mar that said he was 16, but he ultimately didn't do it,” Scott Hazelton said in the video. “He was doing so good [at Agua Caliente]. It wasn't like he was riding against stiffs. He was going to be up at Del Mar riding and they decided not to and ultimately it was the best thing that he didn't.”
According to Equibase statistics, Hazelton sent out the winners of 4,745 races (from 25,479) starters, beginning in 1957, and the earners of better than $40 million. Wintering in Arizona, where he won a record 16 titles at Turf Paradise, Hazelton spent his summers at the Chicago-area racetracks, winning no fewer than 18 champion trainer titles at the old Sportsman's Park, three at nearby Hawthorne Race Course and eight at Arlington Park. He saddled his final runners in 2011.
“He was Turf Paradise, he was Sportsman's Park, he was Arlington Park–that was him,” trainer Bob Baffert said in the TVG video. “He's up here to me,” Baffert added, flattening his hand and raising it over his head. “He's a better horseman than I'll ever be.”
Hazelton posted some of his best years statistically in the early 1980s, sending out 21% winners to runners in 1981, including GI American Derby winner Pocket Zipper, the lone top-level winner of his career. Hazelton was perhaps best known for his work with Illinois-breds and particularly those owned by Gail and Dr. Richard Radke's Asiel Stable. The Radkes campaigned countless state-bred restricted stakes winners with Hazelton, including half-siblings Classic Appeal and Bonita Meadow as well as the latter's daughter Meadow Drive.
“He lived a life that was insane, the people he crossed paths with, the people he trained for,” Scott Hazelton said in the video. “You would never know it meeting him or talking to him, you would never know what he was as a trainer.”
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