Richard Mulhall, trainer and racing manager, dies at 76

ARCADIA, Calif. - Richard Mulhall, a trainer who gained prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s as a racing manager for The Thoroughbred Corp., died at his home in Monrovia, Calif. on Monday after a lengthy illness, according to Santa Anita publicity officials.

Mulhall, who had been in declining health in recent years, was 76.

Mulhall oversaw the late Ahmed Salman’s The Thoroughbred Corp. when the stable included such runners Point Given, the 2001 Horse of the Year; War Emblem, the champion 3-year-old male of 2002 and the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes that year; Anees, the champion 2-year-old male of 1999; and Jewel Princess, the champion older female of 1996.

During those years, Mulhall had a near-constant presence at racetracks in Southern California, attending races and dealing with the The Thoroughbred Corp.’s trainers during morning training.

Salman died of an apparent heart attack in his native Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2002, and his racing and breeding stock was dispersed in 2004. In following years, Mulhall had made less frequent appearances at the races while fighting health problems.

A native of New York, Mulhall began training in 1959 after galloping horses and working in the stable of Willie Molter, the leading trainer at Santa Anita in the late 1950s. Mulhall’s first stakes winner was Madison, the winner of the San Diego Handicap at Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1967.

At Hollywood Park, he trained the stakes winners Simple Magic, who won the 1983 Landaluce Stakes against eventual 2-year-old champion filly Althea; Nasib, who won the Vernon Underwood Handicap in 1986; and Mohamed Abdu, who won the 1990 Inglewood Handicap.

At Santa Anita, Mulhall won the 1987 San Felipe Handicap with Chart the Stars, who beat a group that included eventual Kentucky Derby winner Alysheba; the 1988 San Rafael Stakes with What a Diplomat; and two stakes in 1988 with Mohamed Abdu, the Arcadia Handicap and Col. F.W. Koester Handicap.

At Del Mar, Mulhall won a division of the Oceanside Stakes with Mehmetori in 1990, and the Balboa Stakes the following year with Scherando.

As a trainer, Mulhall had three runners in Breeders’ Cup races, finishing fifth with Mohamed Abdu in the 1988 Mile, and fifth and 13th in the 1994 Juvenile with Supremo and Strong Ally.

Mulhall’s survivors include a son, Michael, and a daughter, Kristin, who is a trainer at Santa Anita, and two sisters, Janice Jenks and Patricia Espinoza.