Ronald “Ronnie” C. Cartwright, a Maryland-based trainer who conditioned multiple graded-stakes winners throughout his career, passed away Nov. 11 at the age of 93.
A steeplechase jockey who then trained from the late 1960's through 2005, Cartwright won almost 700 races and his horses earned more than $13 million. His graded-stakes winners included Mz. Zill Bear (Salutely), Castelets (King's Bishop), Miss Slewpy (Slewpy), Palliser Bay (Frosty the Snowman) and Mymet (Mehmet).
“I've been in this for 60 years and will miss it,” Cartwright said soon after he retired in 2005. “It has been a great run. I've had a really good life and enjoyed this very much. I had a lot of nice horses and had a good time.”
“Ronnie was a horsemen's horseman–very old school,” said Maryland-based breeder/owner Jay Williamson. “He did it the right way, and he had the right owners. When horses need time off, they got time off. That's tough to do in today's environment. He was an all-around good person. Everybody liked Ronnie.”
A Celebration of Life for Cartwright will be held at Laurel Park on the first floor of the clubhouse Dec. 19 at 11:30 a.m.
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