Burt Bacharach, hit-making songwriter who owned Grade 1 winners, dies at 94

There were times from the 1970s to 1990s when the legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach was at the center of Thoroughbred racing. Bacharach campaigned Heartlight No. One, the champion 3-year-old filly of 1983, and owned Grade 1 winners Afternoon Deelites and Soul of the Matter.

Bacharach died of natural causes on Wednesday at the age of 94 at his home in California.

He won with his first horse he owned, in the late 1960s, and won his first stakes with Crumbs in the 1975 El Cajon Stakes at Del Mar.

Then came the mid-1990s. Led by the colts Afternoon Deelites and Soul of the Matter, who were trained by Richard Mandella, Bacharach’s small stable thrived.

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Soul of the Matter, fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in 1994 and in the BC Classic at Belmont Park in 1995, finished second by a half-length to reigning Horse of the Year Cigar in the first running of the Dubai World Cup in March 1996. The ground-breaking $4 million race at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse, at the time the world’s richest race, captured the attention of racing fans throughout the world and lived up to lofty expectations with a hard-fought stretch duel between the two American runners.

The race was fresh in Mandella’s mind on Thursday.

Soul of the Matter “tried so hard,” Mandella said. “After the race, we went down a spiral staircase to where we could meet the horse. Halfway down the stairs, I looked back and Burt was crying like a baby. He was so proud of him.”

Soul of the Matter won four stakes, including the Grade 1 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs in 1994, a race Bacharach attended.

Afternoon Deelites began his career by winning his first five starts, from October 1994 to March 1995. Afternoon Deelites lost for the first time when second to Larry the Legend in the 1995 Santa Anita Derby and was later eighth behind Thunder Gulch in the Kentucky Derby. At the end of 1995, Afternoon Deelites won the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita.

“We had a lot of great memories,” Mandella said. “We were lucky to have the kind of horses we had at that time.

“No one appreciated it more than Burt. He was a great owner and a great friend as we went along. We had some great times together.”

Bacharach’s compositions and Hal David’s lyrics provided a soundtrack to the lives of generations. Among his number one hits were “This Guy’s in Love With You,” recorded by Herb Alpert in 1968; “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” recorded by B.J. Thomas in 1969; and “That’s What Friends Are For,” sung by Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder. It was the Grammy Song of the Year in 1986.

Bacharach was honored with six Grammys and three Academy Awards. Through the 1990s and into this century, younger musicians took a keen interest in Bacharach’s music. He remained active in recent years and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2021 and 2022 for his collaborations with Daniel Tashian and Steve Sater.

While Bacharach’s stable reached its peak in the mid-1990s, he was involved in the sport for the rest of his life. On Jan. 21, Duvet Day won the Astra Stakes for fillies and mares at Santa Anita for Bacharach, his wife, Jane, and Richard Schatz.

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