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» = ; ■ The R. H. McDaniel Story . Had Way With People and Horses Said They All Got Along Fine Trainer for 13 Different Owners Patrons Attended Birthday Party I By Oscar Otis I This is the sixth of a series of articles on the late R. H. "Red" McDaniel, Americas leading trainer from 1950 through 1954. In it Oscar Otis, McDaniels friend and confidant, gives the trainers background, his conditioning secrets and his -philosophy of horse racing. CHAPTER VI. It is an axiom in ,the far West that successful trainer must devote at least as much time to "training his owners" as he does his horses, and the late R. H. McDaniel had a way with people as well as with horses. It is a matter of record that his "stable" of owners was a diverse group of people, one which would hardly come together under circumstances other than as patrons of a single public trainer. At the time of McDaniels plunge to a rendezvous with his fate from the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, his owners were: " Doctors Beauchamp and Brown, dentists of Los Angeles, and who chose to race as the Busy Bee Stable. George Farris, a Sacramento trucker, who chose the fancy "Columbia Farms" monicker. George Burroughs, Los Angeles capitalist and specialist in bankrolling independent movie productions, and whose stable raced as the "Glad Flo." Herman H. Helbush, Los Angeles multimillionaire who came up from scratch by his own efforts in real estate and precision tool manufacturing, and "who has been a liberal purchaser of Irish and English thoroughbreds. Albert Icaro, a Bakersfield rancher who specializes in growing alfalfa seed. Mr. and Mrs. Harry James, he the trumpeter, she the beloved Betty Grable of the films. T. M. Kenyan Oklahoma oil millionaire. George L. Klumpp, former Mayor of Sacramento and a mortician. Johnny Leal, owner of a 350-cow dairy ranch near Whittier. Norman G. Phillips, Beverly Hills oil man, whose fields, are in West Texas and New Mexico. Ryan Divided Stable % J. H. Ryan, the well-known San Fernando Valley breeder, who kept two horses with McDaniel because he believed in splitting up his horses among several trainers, and McDaniel was one of his choices. Dr. A. J. Chlad, a physician on the staff of Scripps Hospital, La Jolla. The doctor elects to be known in racing as the Sea Breeze Stables. Elmer Smith, owner of a string of drive-in restaurants on the San Francisco peninsula. We asked McDaniel if he didnt encounter a lot of inner conflicts, resents, and quarrels among these people over whose horse should run where, because these owners were bound to have some horses of the same calibre, but TMcDaniels answered "no, they all get along fine. If I run an entry with two horses and two owners, each one roots for the other to win, if he cant win it himself. And the whole gang bets a little on most any horse I saddle. If one wins, they all have a celebration. "Why, would you believe it, but on my last birthday, while we were in San Mateo, my wife gave me a birthday party and invited all our patrons and their wives. While a few couldnt make it up from Los Angeles, we had 22 present, and when I. say a wonderful time was had by all, I mean it, even though the expression is a trifle shopworn. "Besides, I like to think that my public stable has its fine side, too. Take my man from Bakersfield, Icardo. When he entered racing, he didnt know a soul. It was pretty lonely business being an unknown horse owner. But as a patron, I introduced him around, and today he is one of the gang, and has lots of friends on the racetrack. I like to think hes getting a lot more fun out of his horses and racing by being in my family stable than he ever could have otherwise." McDaniel was quite proud of the fact that he "put many new people in racing" and to that extent his public stable has been a real asset to the sport as well as in many other ways. How he got his patrons were legion, but one story will suffice. One of his former patrons was Andrew J. Crevolin. McDaniel was introduced to Crevolin by a mutual friend, Irving Cummings Jr., son of the veteran motion picture producer and horse player. The junior Cummings appeared at the Louis B. Mayer dispersal sale in 1937 ►with Crevolin in tow, introduced him to McDaniel that night. McDaniel carefully studied his patrons, and he made a mental note of Crevolin that night. "Oscar, I had it down to just this — a green man but enthusiastic in the extreme, will probably buy worth while horses." Crevolin bought two horses that night, Rising Prices and Flying Rhythm, and so another owner was launched into racing. To_Be Continued.
