Rodney Rash
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 14, 1959 Frederick, Maryland, U.S. |
| Died | March 1, 1996 (aged 36) |
| Occupation | Trainer |
| Horse racing career | |
| Sport | Horse racing |
| Career wins | 143 |
| Major racing wins | |
| Oak Tree Invitational Stakes (1992) Henry P. Russell Handicap (1993) Providencia Stakes (1993) Malibu Stakes (1994) Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap (1994) Yerba Buena Handicap (1993, 1994) Santa Anita Handicap (1995) Vernon O. Underwood Stakes (1995) San Marcos Stakes (1996) Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Turf Stakes (1996) | |
| Significant horses | |
| Urgent Request, Celtic Arms, Blues Traveller | |
Rodney R. Rash (July 14, 1959 – March 1, 1996) was an American trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses.
Born in Frederick, Maryland, Rash grew up on a dairy farm and was exposed to the sights and sounds of Thoroughbred horse racing when he helped his father deliver hay to horse farms and racetracks. Rash left home at age sixteen and found work as a hot walker with the Santa Anita Park racing operations of renowned U.S. Racing Hall of Fame trainer, Charlie Whittingham.
Assistant to Whittingham
During his early working years, Rodney Rash went through a self-destructive wild period when alcohol and drug abuse became a problem. As recounted by Jay Hovdey, author of Charlie Whittingham's biography and an acclaimed racing journalist, Whittingham's son Taylor died as a result of drug abuse and he took Rash under his wing. Associates of Rash also told reporters how Whittingham had been very patient with the young man, bailing him out of jail and making reparations for the damage Rash had done. By 1987, the then twenty-eight-year-old Rash had turned his life around and dedicated himself to his training duties. He worked his way up to become Whittingham's head assistant then in April 1991 opened his own training operation.