Trainer Larry Frazee

Born: 09/20/43, Lamar, Colorado

Resides: Guthrie, Oklahoma

Family:  Arnitha, wife; Todd, Terrill, Tyler, sons 

Among horsemen here for the 2009 Oaklawn meeting is Larry Frazee, who brought in eight head from Remington Park. A licensed trainer for more than 40 years, Frazee, 65, learned horse training under his late grandfather, W. F. Frazee.  

The family is originally out of Eads, Colorado, but Larry has made his home in Guthrie, Oklahoma since 1988. 

A race track lifer, he is usually positive, frequently successful, never ungracious, and speaks with the best of horse racing on his tongue. 

“Racing is all I’ve ever known. The game has been good to me,” he mentioned. “I’ve been racing at Oaklawn, off and on, for years. 

"For years our two main meetings were Omaha and Denver and we would fill in around them, maybe Oaklawn, Albuquerque, or a trip to Chicago in the fall," Larry reflected.  "But, when Remington opened, I relocated my family where we could have some kind of home life.  Old Centennial Park and Ak-Sar-Ben are no longer, so my circuit now is mainly Oaklawn, Lone Star and Remington." 

On a November morning in 1970, the Chicago newspapers reported a colt from the west named High Rover winning the previous day’s $26,700 National Jockey Club Handicap at Sportsman’s Park. 

“That was a real good meeting back when Sportsman’s Park was going. A number of horsemen from our part of the country would ship there in the fall. In those days, the track didn’t put a lot of their purse money in rich stakes, but instead in to the overnight races that made up the daily cards. My grandparents owned High Rover, so I took the horse there for the National Jockey Club, Jack R. Johnston Memorial and Chicago Today Handicap. The horse won one, was second in one and third in the other,” remembered Larry. 

Reflecting farther on his career, Frazee recalls winning the Raton Derby with Nalena. He also trained the added money winners Hemp Hill, Kacey Quick and Double Quote. 

Larry has seen many changes to racing since he came on board. “The biggest change has been the increased expenses. It is the owners that continue to take a beating in our business.  When I was young in the horse business, I bought straw for fifty cents a bale.  I can see now, those days will never return.” 

He added, “simulcasting, games of skill, phone betting, slots, the wide range of exotic wagering and the festival concept are all changes I’ve seen. We used to have maybe one stakes race a week, or holiday, whereas today a track might have three, or four, in one day. “