Legendary composer and longtime Thoroughbred owner/breeder Burt Bacharach eagerly anticipated the "walkover" at the 1994 Kentucky Derby (G1) with Soul of the Matter, his first starter in the American classic.
He had always heard how exciting the experience was walking from the barn area, around the track, and to the saddling paddock in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 130,000.
"We get about halfway there and the crowd is going nuts, shouting 'Bacharach, Bacharach!'" recalled Richard Mandella, the trainer of Soul of the Matter. "I made him walk about a 100 feet back because they were scaring the horse."
Such was Bacharach's magnetism and his connection to his music fans that inspired and energized him. He equally relished the connections made in the Thoroughbred racing community since he became involved in the mid-1960s.
Both communities are mourning the loss of the composer, songwriter, record producer, and pianist who died Feb. 8 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 94.
Among his many lifetime achievements in music, he won two Academy Awards for best song: for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" in 1982. His original score for the 1969 film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," which included "Raindrops" (a No. 1 hit for singer B.J. Thomas), won an Oscar for best original score for a nonmusical motion picture.
Bacharach and longtime collaborator Hal David also wrote the music for Broadway's "Promises, Promises," which was nominated for seven Tony Awards.
Bacharach was a successful Thoroughbred owner/breeder, as well, and raced and/or bred at least 15 stakes winners, including six graded stakes winners and a champion.
"Why do I race?" Bacharach told the Los Angeles Times in 1994. "I think it's because most of us are in a world we have control over. Then, we have something we love but can't control. You can't make a horse run faster than he wants to. That's the pain of it. But it's exhilarating for people who otherwise control their lives.
"Besides, the race crowd is different. More understated, more calm, more comfortable to be with," he continued. "We're like the $2 bettor. We deal with the disappointments, shrug off the defeats, go back to the drawing board, the Form. You know how we are. There's always tomorrow."
The Derby was one of many cherished memories Mandella shared with Bacharach, who campaigned two of his homebred grade 1 winners—Soul of the Matter and Afternoon Deelites—with the trainer.
"They don't come any better," Mandella said. "He was the best owner you could have. He would come out to the barn and he was involved with his horses, but he respected what we did, and we had some great success."
Bacharach started out buying horses and sending them to Charlie Whittingham to train. His first runner, named Battle Royal, became a winner in 1968 and also got claimed. Bacharach told the Los Angeles Times he was so upset at losing the horse that he made the trainer buy him back. The composer also got involved in breeding early under the name Blue Seas Music and operated out of a farm in Maryland. His first homebred stakes winner was a Bagdad colt named Crumbs, who won the 1975 El Cajon Stakes at Del Mar.
All of Bacharach's grade 1 winners were homebreds.
Heartlight No. One became Bacharach's first grade 1 winner in the Hollywood Oaks (G1). The filly by Rock Talk also won the Ruffian Handicap (G1) and Del Mar Oaks (G2T) and was honored as the champion 3-year-old filly of 1983. Heartlight No. One was named after a song Bacharach wrote with singer/songwriter Neil Diamond, who presented the owner with the trophy in the winner's circle.
"We named (actually renamed) the horse after the song hoping one of them would make it to No. 1," Bacharach's second wife Carole Bayer Sager told BloodHorse after the race.
Heartlight No. One was trained by Pedro Marti and ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr., who also was aboard the composer's first winner.
"Burt was just a good friend. I will always be grateful to him, because after my first wife passed away, he took me under his wing," said Pincay. "My kids were very young and he would invite us out to dinner almost every weekend. I will always be very appreciative of that. That's something that I will never forget. He was really a good friend and I tell you, it hurt me to hear that he passed away."
Soul of the Matter finished a respectable fifth in the Kentucky Derby but went on to win the Super Derby (G1) and run second in the inaugural Dubai World Cup to Cigar. Bacharach was back in the Derby in 1995 with Afternoon Deelites, who won the Hollywood Futurity (G1) at 2 and then captured the San Felipe Stakes (G2) and was second in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) ahead of the Run for the Roses, in which he finished eighth. The son of Private Terms grabbed a second grade 1 win in the Malibu Stakes.
Bacharach's passion for racing never waned. His most recent stakes winner (in partnership with Richard Schatz) Duvet Day captured the Astra Stakes on the grass Jan. 21 at Santa Anita Park for trainer Michael McCarthy.
"He was passionate about racing and always loved to hear about how the horses were doing," McCarthy said. "He is a real legend and to train for a gentleman who has his legacy was a real privilege to us."
McCarthy added that he was impressed that Bacharach was always willing to help when there was a need, referring specifically to a fundraiser he held with singer and friend Elvis Costello to support the victims of the 2017 fire that ravaged San Luis Rey Downs Training Center.
Bacharach was an enthusiastic recruiter for the sport as well, attracting A&M Records co-founder Jerry Moss and media mogul Merv Griffin into the business among others. Jerry Moss' top runners include multiple champion and 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta, while Griffin raced Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) winner and 2005 champion 2-year-old male Stevie Wonderboy.
