Frank Brothers (Keeneland Photo)
By Donna Brothers
Frank Brothers will retire from his roles as bloodstock agent and a member of Keeneland’s yearling inspections team, he announced Friday morning. “I’m fortunate that my health is good,” he said. “I’m 76 years old and quite content to take a seat in the viewing area and watch the game for a while.”
After training horses from 1980 to 2009, Brothers moved into his current role of selecting horses for a few clients before ultimately partnering with Starlight and StarLadies Racing for the past thirteen years. During this time, he has also served as a member of the Keeneland Yearling Inspection Team for the Keeneland September Sale.
“It’s just time for me to move on. For a little guy, the training game was very good to me but it was time for me to make that transition back in 2009,” said Brothers, who won 2,291 races over the course of his career. His best horse, Hansel, was a multiple Grade I winner of the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, who was also the 1991 3-year-old champion. Others in his barn included Grade I winners Secret Hello, Arch, Oath, Madcap Escapade, First Samurai, and multiple graded stakes winner, Pulpit.
“I was fortunate to have trained horses for some great people and then equally fortunate when Jack and Laurie Wolf asked me to join their team as bloodstock agent when I retired from training. We’ve had a great deal of luck together—you’d always like to win more but we did pretty good.” For Starlight Racing Brothers recommended the purchase of Grade 1 winner, Shanghai Bobby (2012 Champion 2-year-old) along with graded stakes winners Algorithms, Eskenformoney, Neolithic, Cutting Humor, and Jouster, among others.
Brothers was also on the Starlight Racing/SF Racing team that selected several graded stakes winners, including Grade 1 winners Charlatan, Eight Rings, and 2020 Kentucky Derby winner, Authentic.
“Frankie’s the best and we’re going to miss him,” said Jack Wolf, managing partner of Starlight Racing. “He feels like family to us at this point. But I respect his decision to retire and I can’t blame him—it’s a tough game.”
