On a rather somber morning in this sometimes crazy place we call the United States, I was all set to post about an old racetrack friend of mine that I found out just passed away. I thought about it and then realized that today might be exactly the right day to tell you about him.
In 1976, I started my career as a trainer. Beyond young, another"young" trainer started when I did. He was 13 years older than me but young in the trainers group in Md. His name was Hank Allen.
Having never known the man, I sure did know his name. He played professional baseball, centerfield, for the Washington Senators in the mid to late 60's. I used to go to a lot of day games back then. So of course I knew the name from then.
I started with horses at Pimlico but moved to Bowie for the summer meeting. There, I met Mr. Allen and told him I watched him play when I was younger. Insread of blowing me off, he started asking me questions about that time so of course I asked questions back. We got to be friends pretty quickly while seeing each other a few times passing back and forth to the 3/4 pole gap and watching our horses train.
Do remember that this was the mid 70's. A young black new trainer? No easy task for him to climb that mountain. What stood out to me was how he went about doing it. He was the epitome of class, grace, kindness and had an infectious laugh and smile. Always in a good mood and always asking how things were going. He was such a nice man.
He stayed at Bowie year round and I moved around with each meet so there were periods of time when I did not cross paths with him much. But we always waved or said hi if we saw each other at one of the other tracks.
I loved Bowie ! I'm sure I have said that in here before, but Hank was probably one of the reasons I did. In a time when race had, and still was, a hot topic with everyone seemingly having a strong opinion, with us, it never came up. I think I can speak for him and say that we never gave a damn about race. We just liked each other.
I would ask him about the old Senators but I could tell that when he talked about it, something was just not quite comfortable. Never found out what that was because I did not press the issue once I realized that. But again, always upbeat, always had that smile.
His brother came to work with him at Bowie after a year or two. His name was Ritchie Allen. Yeah, THAT Richie Allen from the Phillies. He was nice as well but reserved and kind of quiet. Not nearly as outgoing as Hank.
Our frienship stayed for as long as we did at the track. Hank retired about 1998. I left 3 years later. I never saw Hank again after that but I will always hold close his friendship, smile, laugh, and upbeat attitude. He taught me alot. Not about horses, about people, about life, and about how you should act. I needed that in my early 20's and I'm not sure he knew that I did. But now that I think about it a minute, he most likely did. Hank knew alot more than he let on. A pretty darn good horseman no doubt. But as for person, he was hard to top. One heck of a guy. One heck of a gentleman.
In his career, Hank won 286 races with 298 seconds and earnings of 3.64 million. His best horse was Northern Wolf who won the very 1st running of the Frank DeFrancis Dash in 1990 and set a track record at Pimlico at 1:09 Flat.
Rest In Peace Harold " Hank" Allen. You played a helluva game sir.
In 1976, I started my career as a trainer. Beyond young, another"young" trainer started when I did. He was 13 years older than me but young in the trainers group in Md. His name was Hank Allen.
Having never known the man, I sure did know his name. He played professional baseball, centerfield, for the Washington Senators in the mid to late 60's. I used to go to a lot of day games back then. So of course I knew the name from then.
I started with horses at Pimlico but moved to Bowie for the summer meeting. There, I met Mr. Allen and told him I watched him play when I was younger. Insread of blowing me off, he started asking me questions about that time so of course I asked questions back. We got to be friends pretty quickly while seeing each other a few times passing back and forth to the 3/4 pole gap and watching our horses train.
Do remember that this was the mid 70's. A young black new trainer? No easy task for him to climb that mountain. What stood out to me was how he went about doing it. He was the epitome of class, grace, kindness and had an infectious laugh and smile. Always in a good mood and always asking how things were going. He was such a nice man.
He stayed at Bowie year round and I moved around with each meet so there were periods of time when I did not cross paths with him much. But we always waved or said hi if we saw each other at one of the other tracks.
I loved Bowie ! I'm sure I have said that in here before, but Hank was probably one of the reasons I did. In a time when race had, and still was, a hot topic with everyone seemingly having a strong opinion, with us, it never came up. I think I can speak for him and say that we never gave a damn about race. We just liked each other.
I would ask him about the old Senators but I could tell that when he talked about it, something was just not quite comfortable. Never found out what that was because I did not press the issue once I realized that. But again, always upbeat, always had that smile.
His brother came to work with him at Bowie after a year or two. His name was Ritchie Allen. Yeah, THAT Richie Allen from the Phillies. He was nice as well but reserved and kind of quiet. Not nearly as outgoing as Hank.
Our frienship stayed for as long as we did at the track. Hank retired about 1998. I left 3 years later. I never saw Hank again after that but I will always hold close his friendship, smile, laugh, and upbeat attitude. He taught me alot. Not about horses, about people, about life, and about how you should act. I needed that in my early 20's and I'm not sure he knew that I did. But now that I think about it a minute, he most likely did. Hank knew alot more than he let on. A pretty darn good horseman no doubt. But as for person, he was hard to top. One heck of a guy. One heck of a gentleman.
In his career, Hank won 286 races with 298 seconds and earnings of 3.64 million. His best horse was Northern Wolf who won the very 1st running of the Frank DeFrancis Dash in 1990 and set a track record at Pimlico at 1:09 Flat.
Rest In Peace Harold " Hank" Allen. You played a helluva game sir.
