Bally Ache's Owner Dead

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Leonard David Fruchtman, who owned 1960 Preakness Stakes winner Bally Ache, died Dec. 22 at Hospice of Northwest Toledo, according to the Toledo Blade. He was 86.

Fruchtman bought his first horse in 1952 and raced Bally Ache (Ballydam—Celestial Blue, by Supremus) to win six races, five of them stakes, and more than $303,477, as a 2-year-old.

Bally Ache, who cost just $2,500, ran second in the Derby to Venetian Way but came back to defeat that rival in the Preakness. In all, he won 16 of 31 races and earned $758,522.

"He had many, many horses, but not as big of winners or none as important to him," his son, Michael Fruchtman, told the paper. "That was his dream horse."

Fruchtman was the former president of Donovan Wire and Iron Co., a steel processing firm begun by his father, as well as the subsidiary Peters Stamping Co.

The Toledo native raced under the Edgehill Farm banner.

Survivors include are his wife of 58 years, June Fruchtman; sons, Michael, Gary, and David Fruchtman; daughter, Harriet Greenberg; nine grandchildren, and one great-grandson.

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