Fitting end for Bobby Frankel

In what has been a week of crushing news, a ray of joy glimmers. And a little irony shines down with it.

The late Bobby Frankel went out a winner. And in a twist on the longtime conditioner's old nickname, the winning filly was bought from the race by new connections.

Life by R R, the last horse ever entered in the name of Hall of Fame trainer Robert J. Frankel -- who died Monday of leukemia -- took the field gate-to-wire on Wednesday under Alex Solis in a race at Hollywood Park. She was saddled and officially ran under the name of Frankel's assistant trainer, Humberto Ascanio, but entries for the race were due on Sunday, the day before Frankel died, so Frankel's name was originally on the entry.

A 68-year-old Brooklyn native, Frankel early in his career earned the nickname "King of the Claimers" for his ability to improve on horses picked up on the claim. And his last entrant, Life by R R, a 3-year-old filly by Domestic Dispute, was claimed herself from her victorious race; trainer Doug O'Neill bought her for a partnership at a tag of $25,000.

It's outcomes like this that make me believe those folks who say that everything happens for a reason. I suppose you can look at any occurrence, roll it around in your mind, and come up with additional meanings not visible on the surface and perhaps only attached to that happening because you thought hard enough to make it so.

But then that's sort of what life's all about, isn't it? Taking what has been, thinking it over really well, considering its lessons or message, and fitting it into the puzzle of what will become.

Bobby Frankel started at the bottom and worked his way to the top. He deserved to go out a winner. And it is most fitting that victory came with a horse running for a tag; the last one entered by the late King of the Claimers.

Long live the king.

Taken from my hands, left in Bobby's?

No offense to his family and friends -- or to humankind -- but I will always remember the day that Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel died, Nov. 16, 2009, as the day my first baby in this hard business met her own untimely demise.

I shared on this blog earlier in the week that Oracle at Delphi (Mighty Forum-Bushes Victory, by Spartan Victory) broke the humerus in her left front by crashing through a fence in a panic Sunday night, spooked by a falling tree. Another filly followed her through and was injured, but by reports I've received, should recover well.

Born March 30, Oracle at Delphi, the splendid chestnut filly with a huge blaze and three white socks eerily reminiscent of her great-great-grandsire Secretariat, didn't make it to eight months of age. She lived through the night Sunday, but X-rays in the morning revealed no hope of recovery.

And I'm not 100 percent certain that the full measure of that truth has yet sunk in.

I don't get to Gordonsville, Va., all that often to see the horses. I'd "met" Delphy twice and thought she was exceptional -- though admittedly, as her co-breeder, I was biased. Still, a trainer friend of mine, from photos I sent him, said the girl was well-balanced and had the right look for her age. She had a nice engine and appeared to be one that someday, I told myself, might really motor.

But in her short time on earth, as almost-perfect as she appeared, Delphy had her share of issues.

She first came down with the snots. Aggressive treatment took care of the issue. But when it's your horse and your money, there's no such thing as a "minor" ailment in a young foal.

Then Delphy suffered a pasture accident of some sort in which she bloodied her muzzle and cracked a small bone in her nose. Careful monitoring and a few weeks without her halter for comfort and healing led to a full recovery.

Now this.

In hindsight, maybe Delphy's was just a life not meant to be. Or meant to be for long.

I'm left to try and rationalize why fate chose her to take so soon, though of course there's no reason behind determining the victims in matters of fatal chance.

And I'm left to console myself with memories and frivolous thoughts, like speculating that Delphy must have been fast; after all, in a panicked rush of horseflesh, she was the first foal to hit the fence.

Condolences have flooded in, from friends, family, horse-business contacts and readers of this blog. Each and every kind word has been appreciated. True to the nature of horse-lovers, myself included, some of the seemingly most offbeat comments offer the truest comfort.

And this is where one Robert J. Frankel re-enters our story.

A member of a horse racing message board in which I participate, known as BigHorse2 at Yahoo Groups, passed along this thought, typed-up, she admitted, through a stream of her own tears.

"Maybe Bobby went to train Delphy."

My filly should be so lucky up in Heaven. She's due.

Rest in peace, win in heaven, Bobby Frankel

News is just breaking of the death of Bobby Frankel, a victim of leukemia at age 68, but it's fitting to pause amid an already tough Monday morning for me and offer condolences to his friends and family.

Born Robert J. Frankel in Brooklyn, July 9, 1941, he went on to train more than 3,500 winners, including Breeders' Cup Classic-winning Horse of the Year Ghostzapper.

Frankel also conditioned Breeders' Cup Sprint champion Squirtle Squirt, Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf champion Starine, Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker, two-time Pacific Classic winner Skimming, two-time Santa Anita Handicap winner Milwaukee Brew, and many other top thoroughbreds for well-known owners such as Edmund Gann.

Racing has lost a hall-of-famer; someone who clearly loved and lived for the game.

Rest in peace, Robert.

Pioneerof the Nile at career terminus: 'Twas a short trip

Ahmed Zayat's Pioneerof The Nile, winner of four straight graded-stakes before finishing second in the Kentucky Derby to Mine That Bird, has been retired due to a "soft tissue injury."

The injury wasn't fully described; only referenced as "a little filling in his leg" discovered by trainer Bob Baffert and staff.

The Blood-Horse -- in another notorious "edited press release" -- apparently is accepting Zayat Sables' labeling of the horse as "one of the top colts of his generation." ... Do they mean "crop?" Because that at least have a chance of being true.

In fact, because The Blood-Horse apparently isn't bothering to temper anyone's editorial commentary in their self-promotional press-releases, there's all sorts of gushing about Pioneerof The Nile in the "story."

It's said that jockey Garrett Gomez chose Pioneerof The Nile over $3.7 million yearling Dunkirk for the Kentucky Derby "as a demonstration of the respect (Pioneerof The Nile) commanded." ... But wouldn't a jockey be an idiot not to take the multiple-graded-stakes winner over a horse that had only cleared the maiden and allowance ranks, Dunkirk's placing in the Florida Derby notwithstanding?

The "story" fawns over the horse's combination of stamina and speed. And Baffert, according to Zayat, was "100 percent convinced that (Pioneerof The Nile) was going to win the Breeders' Cup Classic."

Good for them. I'm not 100 percent convinced of much of anything, including whether any horse will be sound and fit enough to race on Breeders' Cup weekend (theirs won't be), let alone win the biggest race on the card.

I'm not necessarily knocking Pioneerof The Nile, although I won't fawn over him, either. He was a talented horse who won half of his 10 lifetime starts and more than $1.6 million.

But I will go on record that 10 starts doesn't impress me. And his sire, Empire Maker, made all of eight before retiring unsound as a 3-year-old and not making it to the Breeders' Cup Classic. (Though Bobby Frankel called him the "best horse I have ever trained.") And while I hate to point fingers, here's the Unbridled line again, which also includes the aforementioned Dunkirk (by Unbridled's Song) who likewise is presently on the shelf due to injury.

"Thank God I'll get to see his progeny," says Zayat.

Well, for eight or 10 races, anyway.