Trainer Larry Frazee

Born: 09/20/43, Lamar, Colorado  Resides: Guthrie, Oklahoma  Family:Arnitha, wife; Todd, Terrill, Tyler, sons

Among horsemen here for the 2008 Oaklawn meeting is Larry Frazee, who brought in five runners from Remington Park.

 A licensed trainer for more than 40 years, Frazee learned horse training craft under his late grandfather, W. F. Frazee.

The family is originally from Eads, Colorado, but Larry has made his home in Guthrie, Oklahoma since 1988. Last year Frazee took part in 25 races at Oaklawn, won four, added three seconds and as many thirds.

A racetrack lifer, he is always positive, frequently successful, never ungracious and speaks with the best of horse racing on his tongue.“Racing is all I’ve ever known. The game has been good to me,” he mentioned.

"For years our two main meetings were Omaha and Denver and we would fill in around them, maybe Oaklawn, Albuquerque, or a trip to Chicago in the fall," Frazee reflected.

"But, when Remington opened, I relocated my family where we could have some kind of home life.Old Centennial Park and Ak-Sar-Ben are no longer, so my circuit now is mainly Oaklawn, Lone Star and Remington."

On a November morning in 1970, the Chicago newspapers reported a colt from the west named High Rover winning the previous day’s $26,700 National Jockey Club Handicap at Sportsman’s Park.

“That was a real good meeting back when Sportsman’s Park was going. a number of horsemenfrom our part of the country would ship there in the fall. In those days, the track didn’t put a lot of their purse money in rich stakes, but instead in to the overnight races that made up the daily cards. My grandparents owned High Rover, so I took the horse there for the National Jockey Club, Jack R. Johnston Memorial and Chicago Today Handicap. The horse won one, was second in one and third in the other,” remembered Frazee.

Reflecting on his career, Frazee recalls winning the Raton Derby with Nalena. He also trained the added money winners Hemp Hill, Kacey Quick and Double Quote.Larry has seen many changes to racing since he came on board.

“Off the top of my head, there have been simulcasting, games of skill, phone betting, slots, the wide range of exotic wagering andthe festive concept. We used to have maybe one stakes race a week, or holiday, whereas today a track might have three, or four, in one day.And, of course, the rise in expenses. In High Rover’s time, I bought straw for fifty cents a bale. Last week, I had to give $9.50 for a three-wire bale of it.”