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ROBERT H. McDANIEL ;|Robert McDaniel Commits Suicide Americas Leading Trainer Leaps From San Francisco Bay Bridge; In III Health By KENT COCHRAN Staff Correspondent I GOLDEN GATE FIELDS, Albany, Calif., f May 6.— Robert Hyatt McDaniel, 44, Amer-i icas leading trainer for the last five-years, ; is dead. He destroyed himself late yester-: day afternoon by leaping from the highest i span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge 20 r minutes after saddling a winner at Golden : Gate Fields. McDaniels suicide stunned ! California racing circles, as it must have i stunned horse people everywhere. Scores ; of friends had chatted with him during the ; afternoon and found him as quiet, retiring ; and smilingly pleasant as usual. They were ; dumbfounded on hearing the report of his . self-destruction — so much so that they be-! lieved the report a tragic error or canard — . until grim confirmation forced its accept-1 ance. Then their dazed confusion turned to mingled bewilderment .and perplexity, for no tenable motive was at once apparent. The fabulously successful trainer had saddled horses in the first, second and f if tl races and watched them lose. He then saddled Aptos in the sixth, the Sinaloa Pagent Purse, climbed the stairs through the grandstand to the clubhouse, nodding pleasantly to acquaintances in the big •crowd, walked out the gate to his car and drove away — to death. Didnt Watch Aptos Victory McDaniel did not pause to watch Ralph Neves drive Aptos to a handy victory. He got into his 1954 biege Cadillac, drove along the East Shore Freeway to the bridge, paid the toll and proceeded west across the great highway link connecting Oakland and San Francisco. He passed over the mile or two of shallow water east of Yerba Buena, mid-bay Treasure Island, where a worlds fair was held some years ago, and continued toward the setting sun. Reaching the highest span, towering above the deepest channel, he braked his car to a stop in the outer lane, dashed to the rail, clambered atop it and, without hesitating an instant, leaped far out, his body arching downward to the watery hundreds of feet below. Three men in following cars saw the act and noted the clock in the Ferry Building pointed to 4:35 fifteen minutes after he had saddled Aptos. They used an emergency bridge phone to notify the authorities, and 24 minutes later the Coast Guard recovered the body. In the meantime, police had driven McDaniels automobile from the bridge. On its windshield was a Golden Gate Fields sticker, and in it they found papers which identified the owner. On the dead mans body were his stop watch and other papers and cards. Later, race track friends confirmed the identification in person. Suffering From Stomach Ulcers Sam Swartzberg, agent for McDaniels 60-horse public stable, told Daily Racing Form that his employer had been in ill health, complaining of bleeding stomach ulcers. Turf patrons had noticed the man had been spending more time than usual at the bar in recent weeks, and he had confided to one close friend that he was at times despondent over his inability to resist the desire to drink. The mans legion of friends today were inclined to ascribe his act as due to a case of overwork which brought on nervous exhaustion. He was at the track as the sun rose, unfailingly, and remained until the last race was run shortly before sunset. He usually had 60 or more horses in training and 30 others being rejuvenated on farms. McDaniel won the national training honors for the last five years and he set a new world record in 1953 when he saddled 211 winners. The man had 38 employes y and an annual payroll of 25,000. Agent Swartzberg .informed that the mans widow last night expressed the wish that the show go on, and that the stable continue in operation tomorrow. This means that Poona • IT. will -contest the Golden Gate Handicap against Determine, Rejected and the other stalwarts of the division. Services for McDaniel will be held at 8 oclock Monday evening at the Patterson and OConnell Funeral Chapel, 1311 S. El v £?amino Real, San Mateo, and another service will be held Wednesday .at Forest Lawn in Los Angeles, where he will be interred; R. H. McDaniels record follows: 1943 21 $ 34,925 1944 18 33,530 1946 21 80,715 1947 39 123,370 1948 30 86,850 1949 . 61 233,882 1950 156 441,590 1951 164 539,204 1952 ..... . 168 573,837 1953 211 751,957 1954 206 834,390 *1955 48 338,475 Totals . 1,143, ,072,725 ♦Includes racing of May 5.
