Read online:
By Emily Shields
Lennie Recabaren was honored in the winner’s circle at Del Mar Nov. 30, with the ceremony balanced between festive birthday party–Recabaren had just turned 98–and lifetime achievement award. He has been a member of theDel Mar Turf Club for 57 years and was even present on the track’s opening day in 1937. In the interim Recabaren has owned thoroughbreds, loved deeply, and helped shape San Diego as it is known today.
“My whole family was in racing,” Recabaren explained, noting that his Peruvian grandfather used to have Arabian race horses. “My mother got me interested in racing when I was quite small.” Recabaren was working as a laborer for Paramount Pictures when he and some other workers heard about a new track opening down south, and that they could take the train. He remembers the experience like it was yesterday.
Recabaren was working as a laborer for Paramount Pictures when he and some other workers heard about a new track opening down south, and that they could take the train. He remembers the experience like it was yesterday.
“On opening day Betty Grable was there,” he said. “ The stars all came down. And after the races, the party kept going. They would bring in a band and swing dance out on the patio.”
Wife Valerie added, “It makes today’s opening days look like child’s play.”
A racing well lived
Recabaren has lived a life of vast experiences. He was a Master Mariner, certified to handle any tonnage of ship on any ocean. He served in World War II, the Korean war, and the Vietnam war, then later opened a bar. He had a fleet of tuna clipper ships and would ultimately build a major golf course.