Warren Stute

Longtime California trainer Melvin Stute passed away Wednesday in Del Mar, CA. He had just turned 93. Born in Indiana before moving westward with his family as a child, Stute was the brother of fellow California fixture Warren Stute--who died in 2007--and the father of active trainer Gary Stute. "He was like no other person I ever met," said Gary Stute. "He saw the good in everyone. He woke up every day thinking he was going to win, cashing a bet or winning a race. He loved life and he...

Well, I guess even Clement L. Hirsch might have had to scratch his head once or twice, if he were still around, to help confront the challenges facing Santa Anita over the past year or so. But there's no doubt that we could all, in the present crisis, usefully emulate the spirit of altruistic dynamism by which he sustained Californian racing in his own time. In 1969, Hirsch and his partners began a game-changing, not-for-profit enterprise at the Oak Tree Racing Association and established a similar regime at the Del...