[Deathwatch] Harold Rose, horse trainer, 92

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Thoroughbred Trainer Harold Rose Dies
Mon Sep 8, 7:43 PM ET
	
MIAMI - Harold Rose, who was involved in horse racing as a trainer,
owner and breeder for more than a half-century, died Monday at his
North Miami home. He was 92.

Rose remained active as a trainer based at Calder Race Course until his
death, said his daughter, Joan Needell, who is also a trainer as is
Rose's oldest son, Barry.

"He was at the track up until August," Needell said. "He was very
involved. He was even involved with what we were doing in the past
couple of weeks."

Rose bought his first horse for $800 in 1951, then became a full-time
trainer in 1968. He won more than 300 races at Calder in his career,
track officials said.

He saddled two starters in the Kentucky Derby: Rexson's Hope in 1984
and Hal's Hope in 2000.

Hal's Hope, the only horse Rose ever named after himself, was the
highlight of his career. It became a sentimental favorite at the
Kentucky Derby after Rose, then 88, underwent quadruple bypass surgery
following a stroke in 1999. Hal's Hope finished 16th in a field of 19.
Rexson's Hope finished 10th in a field of 20.

Hal's Hope won 33 races, including the Holy Bull Stakes, as a 40-1 long
shot, and the Florida Derby in 2000.

"He was one-in-a-million, a part of the family," Rose said after the
horse died in July 2002 after intestinal surgery.

His Florida Derby victory was a stunning upset over even-money favorite
High Yield, trained by D. Wayne Lukas.

"If we were going to lose one, I'm glad we lost to him," Lukas said
after the race.

Hal's Hope earned $1,098,422 for Rose, who also bred the horse.

"Hal was the highlight of his later life," Needell said. "That was a
real treat because we bred him. This was own our baby, a very special
horse."

There's another special horse still in Rose's barn, Needell said.
They're hoping that a 2-year-old colt named Hopefortheroses ? a half
brother of Hal's Hope and grandson of Rexson's Hope ? can get the
family back to the Kentucky Derby in 2004.

Rose was born in Newark, N.J. in 1911. His family spent winters in
South Florida, and Rose learned about the horse game at Hialeah in the
1930s.

Rose retired from a career in publishing and as a caterer of corporate
picnics in the Jersey Shore area in 1968, when he took out his training
license in New Jersey. He moved to Florida three years later.

"He had always been interested in horses," Needell said. "And when he
got to the point in his career where he was ready to retire, he decided
to get really involved."

Survivors include his 89-year-old wife of nearly seven decades, Elsie,
and four children. A memorial service will be Wednesday at the
Levitt-Weinstein Funeral Home in Hollywood.