'King' Richard Hazelton, standout Illinois trainer, dead at 88

Richard Hazelton, a former Illinois-based trainer who assembled a resume many consider Hall of Fame-worthy, died Tuesday, according to TVG, where his son, Scott, works as an on-air host and reporter. Hazelton was 88.

Hazelton, whose father was also a trainer, won 4,475 races, and his horses earned more than $40 million during a career stretching from 1957 to 2011.

“I remember going up to Turf Paradise once, and I saw him in the paddock, but I was too scared to go up and introduce myself,” Bob Baffert said in a recent TVG feature. “…He’s a better horseman than I’ll ever be.”

Known as the “King,” Hazelton transitioned from jockey to trainer. He had a reputation for early morning arrivals to the track, and for riding his pony on track during training.

His children then continued in the family business of racing.

“I didn’t really realize how great of a horse race trainer he truly was and how respected he was in the game, and I didn’t realize it because it was ‘Dad’ to me,” Scott Hazelton said recently on TVG.

“...I am so lucky that everywhere I go — it doesn’t matter where I go, and it doesn’t matter if it’s in the U.S. — I know somebody. And I know somebody that knew my father from back in the day, or somebody that knew me when I was a child.”