Owner Alan Booge dies at 76

Alan Booge, principal of the stable AB Racing for more than 30 years, has died, said Jack Deakins, who trained for the resident of Phoenix.

Booge died June 22 at the age of 76, according to an obituary from Hansen Mortuary. He was an Iowa native, and a funeral mass will be held Saturday at the Resurrection of Our Lord Catholic Church in Pocahontas, Iowa. A celebration of life will be held this fall in Phoenix.

Deakins said some of Booge’s best horses included Bedroom Blues, with whom he won the Appalachian at Keeneland; Priceless Commodity, who was a Canterbury Park sprinter of the year; Inebriator, a fan favorite at Ak-Sar-Ben; Lifelong Ambition, who was a Turf Paradise horse of the year; and Amerix, his first claim as an owner back in 1976.

“Alan loved his family and his horses,” Deakins said. “He was a really good guy. He will be greatly missed.”

Deakins, who retired from training in 2013, said Booge also had horses with trainers Tim Padilla, Bret Calhoun, and Gene DeRoin.