Handicapper & owner Jeff Siegel, 74, dies after fighting cancer

Jeff Siegel, who turned his handicapping prowess into an Eclipse Award-winning media career and success as a racehorse owner, died Saturday morning after suffering from cancer. He was 74.

His death was confirmed in an X post from his friend Eric Sondheimer, a sports writer for the Los Angeles Times with whom Siegel recently partnered in horse ownership.

“I’m very sorry to report that Jeff Siegel, one of the world’s greatest horse-racing handicappers and one of UCLA’s biggest fans, died Saturday morning,” Sondheimer wrote. “... He’d be so excited for UCLA’s win over Penn State. Fairfax High grad. Respected by all.”

“I had so much respect for him,” Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert told the Santa Anita media team. “He had so much passion for the game. I loved talking to him about horses, because he was so knowledgeable and watched everything. Every time I would break a maiden with a good horse, he would run to the paddock to talk to me about him. Like Justify. He came and said you’re going to win the Derby with that horse. He just knew talent. With all those horses, he was always right. He would tell me things with like a horse’s style. He’d say that doesn’t want to run like that. He would give me tips. I’ll really miss him. I would listen to his commentary. He was the best one out there.”

A Los Angeles native, Siegel began his professional career in racing in 1974, when he joined the publicity department at Hollywood Park. In time he became a handicapper for Southern California newspapers like the Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune.

In 1987, Siegel expanded his portfolio to form a partnership with former turf writer Barry Irwin. They created and operate Clover Racing Stable, which became Team Valor five years later. After the operation grew to encompass dozens of Grade 1 winners, Irwin bought out Siegel in 2007.

Siegel won his Eclipse Award in 1999 for “The Best of Santa Anita,” a program he produced for the track to show on Southern California TV.

In 2003, Siegel began a decade as a racing analyst for HRTV, a job that had him traveling to the Triple Crown, Breeders’ Cup and nearly every major Thoroughbred event across North America. All the while he maintained an online profile on his Handicapper’s Report and National Turf websites.

More recently, Siegel was one of the first hosts seen on 1/ST TV when it was begun by the Stronach Group as HBTV in 2016. He also served as the morning-line maker at Santa Anita in 2024. He wrote his final handicapping blog July 12.

“Jeff to me was one of the best handicappers I’ve seen,” trainer Phil D’Amato told the Santa Anita media department. “With Team Valor he was able to pluck some really nice horses for them. He was one of the go-to handicappers on the West Coast for a couple of decades. I remember being a kid and listening all the time to whatever radio or TV show he would be on. It’s a great loss.”