Frank Catrone

Frank Catrone, Jr.
Frank Catrone, Jr.
Occupation	Jamaica Handicap (1930); Ohio Derby (1931); Tremont Stakes (1931) As a trainer:; Top Flight Handicap (1974) American Classic Race wins:; Kentucky Derby (1965)
Significant horses
	Rounders, Lucky Debonair, Spartan Valor

Frank Catrone, Jr. (August 12, 1906 – March 7, 1985) was an American

thoroughbred horse racing jockey, who is best known for winning the 1965 Kentucky Derby as a trainer.^[1]

Catrone stood 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 m) tall. While selling newspapers at a stand outside

Derby Trial Stakes with Valdina Orphan, who then finished third to winner Shut Out in the Kentucky Derby

Following Emerson's death in a May 1943 auto accident, Catrone trained for several owners until 1948 when he was hired by

William G. Helis, Sr. whose colt Spartan Valor^[2] would be described by Catrone as the best horse he had trained up to that time.^[3]

By 1964, Catrone was the secondary trainer behind Clyde Troutt for the breeding/racing stable of Dan and Ada Rice. When the Rices decided to race at Santa Anita Park over the winter of 1964–65, one of the horses Catrone brought West was a colt named Lucky Debonair who had made only one start at age two at the Atlantic City Race Course, where he finished out of the money. In 1965, Lucky Debonair gave Catrone his greatest success in racing, winning the Santa Anita Derby, the Blue Grass Stakes and the Kentucky Derby.^[4] In 1966, Lucky Debonair won California's most famous race, the Santa Anita Handicap.^[5]

Catrone continued to train for the Rice stable until Dan Rice died in 1975 and his widow, Ada, disbanded the racing stable.^[6]

References