Trainer Bernie Flint dead at 86

Longtime trainer Bernie Flint died Friday morning in Louisville, his son, former trainer Steve Flint, confirmed.

Flint, born Jan. 15, 1940, in New Orleans, was 86. The cause of death, his son said, was bladder cancer.

Flint retired from training – he also bred and owned racehorses – in 2023, 53 years after he bought his first horse, named House Seat, from the late trainer J.R. Smith and took up training Thoroughbreds.

Flint had been a New Orleans police officer since 1959 and wore two hats – cop and trainer – until finding so much success at the track that he left the force to train full time, his son said.

“He was self-taught. He got so good at it that by 1975 he had 40 horses,” Steve Flint said.

Flint found his greatest early success at long-defunct Jefferson Downs in Kenner, a New Orleans suburb. He branched out to Chicago and in 1982 ran his first horses in Kentucky, which would become the base of his operation.

Flint trained 3,551 winners, 66th best among trainers, and won 28 graded stakes. His top horses were Hurricane Bertie, Runway Model, Outofthebox, One Mean Man, and Swept Away.

Before age took its toll, Flint stood 6 feet 4 inches over a wide swath of ground and had a booming voice, frequently deployed, to match his heft. He was very much a racetrack character.

“He lived a great life,” Steve Flint said. “He did it the way he wanted.”

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