AP News, December 16th, 2006
Hall of Fame trainer Flint "Scotty" Schulhofer, who saddled two Belmont Stakes winners during a 40-year career, has died of cancer. He was 80.
Schulhofer died Thursday night at a hospital in South Florida, the New York Racing Association said Friday.
Inducted into racing's Hall of Fame in 1992, Schulhofer won the 1993 Belmont with Colonial Affair _ Julie Krone was aboard and became the first female rider to win a Triple Crown race. Six years later, he sent out Lemon Drop Kid to win the '99 Belmont _ the race in which Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Charismatic finished third, and suffered a broken bone in his leg during the stretch run.
Schulhofer sent out his first winner in 1962 at Aqueduct. He retired in 2001 with 1,119 victories from 7,157 starters, and his horses earned purses totaling more than $52 million.
"I had a great relationship with Scotty when I came to New York in 1985," said Jose Santos, who won the Belmont aboard Lemon Drop Kid. "He put me on a lot of winners. He had a heart of gold and he was a great horseman. He always spoke the truth and always told you in black and white what was going on."
Among the champions trained by Schulhofer were Lemon Drop Kid (2000 older male), Fly So Free, Mac Diarmida, Rubiano and Smile. Fly So Free was a 2-year-old male champion in 1990, Rubiano and Smile were sprint champions in 1986 and 1992, respectively, and Mac Diarmida was the 1978 turf male champion.
During World War II, Schulhofer was in the infantry on the front lines in Germany. He began his training career after riding as a steeplechase jockey from 1950-62.
A funeral service will be held Monday in Aiken, S.C., his birthplace.
