By DRF.com
ARCADIA, Calif. (Dec. 11, 2024) — On the backstretch or during an afternoon at the races, a person did not travel far before crossing paths with trainer Eddie Truman at a Southern California track.
Truman was seemingly everywhere, often stopping to visit with people of all walks of life, from stable employees to horse owners, frequently sharing a story that ended with his infectious laugh.
Truman was warmly remembered in the racing community on Wednesday after his death early that morning. On Tuesday evening, Truman hosted a card party at his home in Sierra Madre, Calif., according to his friend and fellow trainer Jay Nehf, who confirmed Truman’s passing.
“It was a real shock,” Nehf said on Wednesday afternoon.
For 50 years, until January, Truman trained on the circuit, winning 763 races. He retired at the age of 77 with the intent of enjoying retirement. Truman had his final starter at Los Alamitos last December and won the final race of his career in June 2023.
On the track, Truman began as a jockey in the early 1960s and switched to training in the early 1970s. Truman had his best year in 1980, winning 53 races, including stakes at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona with Damas and Marble Court.
Through the years, Truman won stakes at Remington Park in 1999 and Golden Gate Fields in 2001 with Casino King, and more recently in the 2010s with the California-bred mares Go West Marie and Moonless Sky.
Go West Marie won the 2015 Fran’s Valentine Stakes at Santa Anita, a race Moonless Sky won two years later.
In recent years, Truman had fewer and fewer runners. In 2023, Truman had 38 starters. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Truman had more than 200 starters for six consecutive years.
“We had a lot of success claiming horses,” Truman said in January in a statement released by Santa Anita in honor of his retirement. “I’ve been associated with such great people and they were not only clients, but really nice friends.
“All these people and, of course, the horses, have made it spectacular, a dream come true for me.”
Truman, who visited Santa Anita occasionally after his retirement, was a past member of the board of directors of the California Thoroughbred Trainers association, a role that kept with his concern over the welfare of backstretch employees, particularly his own staff.
“He took care of them like they were family,” Nehf said.
An avid sportsman, Truman could often be found riding his bike to and from Santa Anita to his nearby home. He had two knees replaced in 2023, but the operations did not slow down his athletic endeavors. Last winter, he went on a 40-mile bicycle ride.
On Wednesday, Truman was warmly remembered by his friends. Nehf recalled that when he relocated to Southern California that Truman was a fast friend.
“He was the first guy to give me a warm welcome,” Nehf said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Nick Hines, the trainer turned racing television commentator, described Truman in a Facebook post as “not only a true horseman, but one of the kindest, most generous humans I’ve ever known.”
Survivors include his wife, Elizabeth, a daughter, and granddaughter.