Flint S. “Scotty” Schulhofer spent nearly all of his 80 years on this earth round horses and racetracks, however in a way he was very like a high-quality wine.

Born because the son of a horse owner-riding academy operator, he went to work on the racetrack as a 17-year-old youth. But when he approached his 60s – at a time when most males would look to decelerate and eye retirement – he loved his best run of sustained success and assembled a secure that rivaled any within the sport.

“I labored for Scotty for 17 years,” coach Sal Russo informed BloodHorse on the time of Schulhofer’s loss of life in 2006. “He was a particular man; a first-class sort of individual. Not that he wasn’t powerful, as a result of he was. I realized rather a lot from him, however I simply want I had the horses he did. He is at all times telling me to hold in there, as a result of it took him a very long time.

“He was an excellent caretaker. If he may have taken them dwelling with him at night time, he would have. He at all times preached: should you deal with them proper, they’re going to deal with you proper.”

And horses definitely handled Scotty Schulhofer proper.

Born in Aiken, S.C., on Might 30, 1926, Schulhofer took his first racetrack job in 1943, education horses for coach Oleg Dubassoff. But it surely was short-lived as he quickly joined the Military and served as an infantry man in Germany throughout World Warfare II.

He attended The Citadel following the conflict and took pre-med courses earlier than returning to work for Dubassoff and finally turning into a steeplechase jockey from 1950-’62.

After retiring as a rider, Schulhofer took out his coach’s license and gained his first race at Aqueduct in 1962. His profession took off in 1969 when he was chosen to switch the retiring John Nerud as head coach for the esteemed Tartan Steady of proprietor William L. McKnight.

Whereas with Tartan, Schulhofer dealt with his first champion, the excellent feminine sprinter Ta Wee.

A winner of 15 of 21 begins, Ta Wee’s victories included the 1969 Check, Vosburgh, and Fall Highweight Handicaps and the 1970 Fall Highweight, Monmouth, Remorse, and Hempstead Handicaps. Inducted into the Racing Corridor of Fame in 1994, she was named the champion sprinter of 1969 and 1970.

Schulhofer parted methods with Tartan in 1972 and opened his personal secure. He educated a gradual string of stakes winners, horses corresponding to Honey Fox, Proud Nova, and World Enchantment.

Then in 1978, Schulhofer campaigned his second champion with the grass star Mac Diarmida. A winner of 12 of 14 begins in 1978, Mac Diarmida reeled off 10 straight stakes wins, together with the Washington D.C. Invitational, Canadian Worldwide Championship, and Lawrence Realization, en path to an Eclipse Award because the yr’s champion turf runner.   

But a couple of years later, as he approached 60, Schulhofer’s profession amazingly began to achieve new heights.

In 1985, he despatched out Frances A. Genter’s Smile to complete second within the Breeders’ Cup Dash at Aqueduct, then gained the race a race yr later with Genter’s colt.

After Smile, with some assist from his son Randy who served because the secure’s assistant coach, a gradual stream of Grade 1 winners started to pop up in Schulhofer’s barn.

In 1987, he gained the Grade 1 Florida Derby with Cryptoclearance, who raced in all three legs of the Triple Crown, ending fourth within the Kentucky Derby, third within the Preakness, and second within the Belmont Stakes. Later in his profession, Cryptoclearance posted Grade 1 wins within the Pegasus, Donn, and Widener and earned greater than $3.3 million.

In 1989, he educated one of many yr’s greatest sprinters, Sewickley, who reeled off wins within the Tom Idiot, Fall Highweight Handicap, and Vosburgh.

The next yr, Schulhofer added one other championship to his already glittering resume when Fly So Free closed the yr with wins within the Grade 1 Champagne and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to seize the 2-year-old championship for males. Winner of the Grade 1 Florida Derby, Fly So Free faltered within the 1991 Kentucky Derby and completed fifth, but he nonetheless managed to complete his profession with greater than $2.3 million in earnings.

In 1992, the yr Schulhofer was inducted into the Corridor of Fame, Rubiano gave Schulhofer one other champion when he gained the Westchester, Carter, Tom Idiot, Forego, and Vosburgh and earned an Eclipse Award as the highest sprinter.

Owned by Centennial Farms and ridden by Julie Krone, Rubiano’s banner season foreshadowed a milestone victory in 1993 by a stablemate.

Colonial Affair not solely gave Schulhofer his first Triple Crown triumph when he gained the 1993 Belmont Stakes, he additionally broke a long-standing barrier. The Centennial 3-year-old made Krone the primary – and to this present day nonetheless the one – feminine jockey to win a Triple Crown race.

Winner of the Grade 1 Whitney and Jockey Membership Gold Cup at 4, Colonial Affair earned $1.6 million in his profession.

Six years later, Schulhofer recorded a second Belmont Stakes victory when Lemon Drop Child thwarted Charismatic’s bid for a Triple Crown sweep. Lemon Drop Child, an earner of $3.2 million, adopted up his 1999 Belmont win with a victory within the Travers and wins at 4 in Grade 1 races such because the Whitney and Woodward earned him an Eclipse Award because the yr’s champion older male.

In 2002, Schulhofer determined to retire, closing the ebook on a profession that included 1,328 victories and earnings of $54,657,686.

It was a protracted and storied experience, and one which by no means actually slowed down. It really grew higher because the years glided by.

Editor’s Word: This story initially was printed in 2015 and has been up to date.

Enjoyable Info

• He ranked among the many high 10 nationally in earnings on seven events.
• Schulhofer additionally labored because the coach for Harbor View Farm in 1982.
• Among the many different stakes winners educated by Schulhofer have been Cahill Highway, Collins, Dr. Carter, Montreal Pink, Scan, Senor Pete, Shared Curiosity, Strategic Maneuver, Tappiano, Twining, and Unaccounted For