Longtime race executive Bob Bork dies at 83

Robert L. “Bob” Bork, who served for nearly 40 years as a racing executive at various tracks across the United States, died early Friday at his home in Houston following years of declining health. He was 83.

A New Jersey native who graduated from La Salle University, Bork began his working career as an IRS agent before being hired in 1969 as the controller at Keystone, which became Philadelphia Park and is now Parx Racing. In Philadelphia, he was instrumental in the implementation of full-card simulcasting, telephone wagering, and other technologically-advanced customer conveniences that are now widespread in racing.

At one point in the mid-1980s, Bork was general manager of both Philadelphia Park and Garden State, then worked in a similar capacity for several years at Arlington Park before moving in 1995 to Sam Houston, which had become the first Class 1 racetrack in Texas the previous year.

Bork was promoted to president of Sam Houston in 2002, semi-retiring from that position shortly after he was elected president of the Thoroughbred Racing Association in 2007.

Bork’s son Dan said in a Sam Houston press release that his dad “was known as an industry leader and was greatly admired by so many accomplished horsemen and racing executives.” Dan Bork also has been a racing executive for nearly 30 years, working mostly in Kentucky but also at Gulfstream Park and Arlington. He is currently the stakes coordinator at Churchill Downs and the racing secretary at Ellis Park.

Bork is survived by his wife of 58 years, Judith; two sons, Dan and Michael; his daughter Dina; and seven grandchildren. He was preceded in death by another son, Robert Jr., as well as his older brother, Bill, also a racing executive who died in 2014.

A private funeral service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Central on Tuesday at Klein Memorial Park in Tomball, Tex., followed by a Celebration of Life at Sam Houston Race Park at 4 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance or the MD Anderson Cancer Center.