passes away

Grindstone, the winner of the 1996 GI Kentucky Derby, passed away at age 29. The news was reported by Oakhurst Equine of Oregon, which acquired the stallion in 2009. "RIP Champ," Oakhurst Equine posted on its Facebook page. "Thank you for providing us with the thrill of a lifetime. You changed our lives when you joined us and will always be missed." Grindstone was the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner, a status he enjoyed for just a few days. At age 31, 1994 Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin died...

Trainer Ron Glorioso, a mainstay at Parx since that track opened in 1974, passed away Oct. 22 at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. He was 79. Before entering training, the Philadelphia native was a Pennsylvania State Trooper assigned to the mounted unit. He stayed with the state police for five years before shifting gears and becoming a trainer. He first became interested in racing when his father took him to the track when he was a freshman in high school. Glorioso started out in the late sixties at...

Bloodstock agent and consignor Mike Recio passed away Sept. 16, at the age of 46 after battling sepsis. The son of respected Ocala horseman Bill Recio, he had been involved in the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry for the majority of his life. After graduating from the University of Louisville Horse Racing Industry Program in 2002, Recio worked in client services for Taylor Made Farm, Adena Springs, Mill Ridge and Hidden Brook, where he cultivated his business acumen and his legendary gift of gab. In the fall of 2014, Recio...

Neil French, a licensed trainer since 1971 who was based in Southern California, passed away from heart failure Saturday, Apr. 10, at Arcadia Methodist Hospital near Santa Anita. He was 68. French grew up with a father who was a farrier at Los Alamitos before switching to training, first Quarter Horses and eventually Thoroughbreds. French rode his father's horses in the mornings and then became a trainer on his own as a teenager. Among French's top horses were SW Pencil Point (Ire) (Sharpen Up), SW & GSP June's Reward (Hail...