Obituary: Ronnie Franklin

When I was informed that former jockey Ronnie Franklin, 58, had died of lung cancer, I felt terrible because it is one hell of a horrible way to die.  Even if one survives the disease, especially when older, the radiation treatments can absolutely destroy a person's body.  I have two family members who have so far survived lung cancer, both of them older (in their seventies), but it has raised hell with them physically.  Radiation made them extremely frail, with one of them needing help now to get around.  Well, I think if I ever had this, and I hope to hell I never do, I would let the cancer takes its course if it came to the point I needed radiation.  I just can't see winding up needing assistance just to move.  I don't have a spouse and descendants around to "live for," so what would be the point of being a horrendous wreck for the rest of my life?  Hopefully, I never wind up with it.

Getting back to the subject at hand, Ron Franklin.  He gained fame in the late 1970s following the success of teenage jockey Steve Cauthen as being another very young jockey who piloted a very talented horse to fame.  Unlike Cauthen, however, Franklin was a rank amateur in the Sport of Kings.  He did have a close relationship with trainer Bud Delp, who was training a top racehorse by the name of Spectacular Bid.  Delp treated Franklin like a son, and he and the Meyerhoffs, who owned Bid, trusted him.  Franklin will never be one of the greats in racing.  He was just a lucky kid who happened to have one of the greatest racehorses of the 1970s or any era to ride, and that horse was talented enough not to get himself and Franklin killed.

As we know, or should, one of the most infamous performances of Franklin's career aboard Bid was the 1979 Florida Derby.  He was around 18 or 19 at the time, Franklin, I mean, but he damned near got Bid killed, as can be seen on this vintage YouTube:

Bud Delp was furious.  He should have sacked Franklin right then and there for what he did.  However, he felt Ron should stay on Bid despite making threats about Bill Shoemaker being just a phone call away.

Eventually, Shoemaker would be called.  Before then, though, Spectacular Bid kept winning, and he took both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in a convincing manner.  However, Franklin's inexperience would come to the fore on Belmont day in 1979.  Bid was the heavy favorite to become the 12th  Triple Crown winner and the third winner in a row on that day.  However, Franklin made damned sure he screwed it up by rushing Bid to the front too early in the race, and he ended up finishing third behind winner Coastal and runner-up Golden Act:

From the NYRA YouTube channel:

This race was the only time I was absolutely furious over a horse race.  Later, it was revealed Bid had stepped on a safety pin the morning of the race, and apparently the story was true, but it was also used to deflect justifiable criticism of Franklin's poor ride.  Trainer Delp in later years said he never watched the replay of the race; it literally made him sick.  Delp did make good on his calling Shoemaker, and Franklin never rode Bid again.

As for Spectacular Bid, he lost only one more time, to Affirmed in the 1979 Jockey Club Gold Cup, and then went on with a sensational four-year-old career, undefeated and winning 1980 Horse of the Year.  Bid died in 2003, Bud in 2006.

Franklin had some substance abuse problems and was even slapped with a paternity suit.  He mostly spent the rest of his life in obscurity.  He never lived down his dreadful performance.  It would be 37 years before we would see another Triple Crown winner.

Franklin blamed himself. “I rushed Bid out of the gate that day,” he recalled in 2004. “I didn’t give him a chance.”

Bud Delp was also not satisfied with Franklin’s ride and just like that, the jockey’s time aboard the Hall of Fame horse was over. He found it difficult to watch as Spectacular Bid evolved into a more dominant horse at age 4 than he had been at age 3, with Bill Shoemaker aboard.

“He had to accept it, because time moved on,” Cullum said of Franklin losing his greatest mount. “But he never let go of it.”

In the years that followed, Franklin began a long battle with substance abuse, a problem he said was driven in part by his desire to escape the stress and shame from the Belmont performance.