Frank "Pancho" Martin, one of the greatest trainers in the history of
New York thoroughbred racing, died Wednesday night at the age of 86. The Hall
of Famer trained horses on the New York circuit since 1951. His career included
almost 19,000 starters with 3,240 winners and earnings over $47,000,000.
Martin was probably most
famous as the trainer of Sham, the
horse that battled Secretariat in
all three of the 1973 Triple Crown races. Sham may have been his most famous
horse, but Martin dominated the trainer standings in New York in the 70’s and
early 80’s. While training for his
primary owners Viola and Sigmund Sommer he won over 20 training titles. Martin
was honored 10 times by the New York Turf Writers Association.
Martin trained two
champions with Autobiography in 1972 and Outstandingly in 1984. Autobiography won the championship for
Older Horses after winning the two-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup by 15 lengths
defeating Key to the Mint and the Kentucky Derby winner Riva Ridge. An Eclipse Award went to Outstandingly based on her wins in the
1984 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly by disqualification and the Hollywood
Starlet.
The movie “Secretariat”
brought Martin back into the limelight. In the film many of the characters and
plot lines were changed. Martin was portrayed as confrontational and arrogant.
Secretariat’s jockey, Ron Turcotte took offense at the way Martin was characterized in the movie, “Pancho is a
wonderful person, always was. I loved him, he was great to me and it hurt
me to see the way he was portrayed.”
In the later years of his
career Martin did not have many horses, yet he continued to train with 77
starters in 2012. The legacy of
Frank Martin has continued on the track through his son Jose, who trained
through 2006, and his grandson Carlos, who is currently a regular on the NYRA
circuit.