Glenn DiSanto, longtime New York horseman, dies at 62

Glenn DiSanto, a longtime owner, breeder and trainer and one of the most well-liked horsemen on the backstretch of New York Racing Association tracks, died Saturday after a long bout with cancer. He was 62.

DiSanto was a graduate of the horse management program at SUNY Cobleskill. He began working with show horses at West Creek Farm in upstate New York and eventually purchased Summit View Farm in Greenwich, N.Y., in 1984.

He had been involved in the New York breeding program since the late 1970s, according to a 2009 story in The Saratogian.

"In the late 1970s, we bought a mare from Glencrest Farm in Kentucky for $30,000 and she was in foal to Timeless Moment," DiSanto told The Saratogian’s Mike Veitch. "That summer, we sold her at the New York-bred sale in Saratoga for $65,000. It was the early days of the state program and we bought more mares and did really well with them, too."

According to Equibase, DiSanto began training in 1991. He won 49 races from 1,022 starters; his horses earned $2,495,710. The last starter to run under his name, Quick on the Draw, a 3-year-old daughter of Posse, finished second at odds of 19-1 in a New York-bred maiden special weight race at Aqueduct on Jan. 2. His other horse was Adirondack Dream, a 4-year-old gelding by Posse.

Kevin Bond, son of trainer James Bond, was taking care of DiSanto’s horses the last few months at Belmont Park.

James Bond was one of DiSanto’s closest friends on the track. The two were always among the earliest trainers to stable at Saratoga when the Oklahoma training track opened in April. Bond and his son visited DiSanto on Friday.

“We lost a really nice person,” James Bond said Sunday. “The world has a lot of greedy, rotten people but he would always ask you how you were doing. He never said anything negative about anyone, just always had a smile on his face. He was a good New York trainer who didn’t get the accolades or horses he should have gotten.”

Among DiSanto’s most successful horses were Alybaghdad, a three-time winning mare who produced Alykela, a four-time winner who earned $145,157.

DiSanto is survived by his wife Melanie, and sons Brett and Brendon.

Arrangements were pending as of Sunday morning.