Paul Frey, who rode 2,478 winners and captured riding titles at Longacres in 1964 and 1966, died of pneumonia Jan. 14 at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif. He was 73.
Frey’s survivors include his wife, Diane, and several children, plus grandson Kyle Frey, who earned the 2011 Eclipse Award as leading apprentice jockey. Kyle Frey dedicated his Eclipse Award to his grandfather at the Jan. 16 ceremony in Beverly Hills, Calif.
A native of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Frey became only the second jockey to top 100 wins at Longacres while winning 103 races in 62 days in 1964. He later won a record 115 races in 1966, a mark that stood until 1971 when Larry Pierce rode 121 winners. Frey finished fourth all-time both in wins and stakes wins at Longacres with 810 and 41, respectively, and his 17.1 win percentage ranks second only to Gary Boulanger all-time. In both 2010 and 2011, Frey was a finalist for the Washington Racing Hall of Fame.
Frey also was leading rider in Northern California where one of his top mounts was California Derby winner On My Honor, a diminutive colt that Frey rode to a fourth-place finish in the 1963 Kentucky Derby. Frey rode many of the Northwest's top horses. He enjoyed multiple stakes triumphs aboard Lak Nak and Grey Papa, and won the 1960 Longacres Derby on Sparrow Castle and the 1961 Washington Futurity on Dr. John H.
Following his riding career Frey worked in the jockeys' rooms at Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields, including a stint as valet for Hall of Fame rider Russell Baze.
Funeral services have not been planned.
