Jim O'Donnell: Calabrese's exit from racing another sign Arlington has faded to memory
AS LONG AS THEY TELL TALES of Arlington Park, they will tell stories about Frank C. Calabrese.
The two most dominant personalities of the track's final two decades were Calabrese and Dick Duchossois, who died at age 100 two years ago this week.
A bit of Calabrese passed recently when Big Dreaming – his last horse in training – was claimed away out of a $30,000 race at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.
“That's it, I'm done,” said Calabrese, 94, who has opted to stay the winter in Park Ridge. “Some good times, some rough times and it all cost me millions. But now it's over.”
BUT WHAT IT WAS WHEN it was: 11 straight owners championships at AP (2000-10). A supreme patron of the game. A demanding businessman but a colorful paddock persona with a heart of gold.
“I worked hard to make my money but I hated to see any good person hurt,” he told the Daily Herald.
“Some people told me I was way too soft a touch. But so what? If you can't give to help, what good is any of it?”
He was a product of Chicago's fabled Little Italy. By age 12, he was hanging paper at a small print shop for 50 cents a day. His mother told him, “Frankie, if you're not a millionaire by the time you're 30, you'll never be,”
He was. And by the time he sold his FCL Graphics in 2004, the reported cash-out was $80 million.
“HORSE RACING, REALLY HARNESS RACING was always my great relaxer starting about 50 years ago,” he said. “It took my mind off of all of the b.s about business. Dave Feldman convinced me to move into thoroughbreds about 30 years ago. He was my first trainer. I loved the action.”
The action peaked in 2006 when his regal Dreaming of Anna won the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies. She was named for his sister, Mrs. Anna Anderson, who died of cancer at age 48. The mare died in 2018. Her last foal was Big Dreaming, who seemed pedigreed for greatness.
“But he turned out to be bigger than an elephant,” Calabrese said. “Didn't make his debut until he was a 3-year-old because of his size. There were some promising moments. But then always setbacks and delays. He didn't have his mother's athleticism.”
CALABRESE NOW RETREATS as patriarch of three generations below. Just underneath him at the top of the family pyramid are beloved sons Frank, Carl and Lewis — the “FCL” in FCL Graphics.
“I still go to the casino when my back lets me,” he said. “A few weeks ago, I won 100 grand playing video poker. That was good for my back. Then I gave most of its back over the next four or five days. That wasn't good for my back.”
ALL THOSE AFTERNOONS at Arlington Park, the presence of Frank C. Calabrese was good for the color of the local game and some of the exchequers around the paddock and the betting positions.
He could be gruff, direct with a devastatingly sarcastic wit and extraordinarily kind.
Like Duchossois, his presence made Arlington Park a memorably engaging oasis.
And his action and personality will be remembered as long as the words “Arlington Park” are remembered.
STREET-BEATIN':
“CNN Sports” — essentially a non-existent entity — was given credit for a national breakaway Tuesday night on the scoop that Doc Rivers was new head coach of the Bucks. Someone at CNN had the story, but the network didn't want to disrupt its coverage of the New Hampshire primary. So it was fed to TNT. …
Zach Zaidman is reported to be off the short list to succeed Jason Benetti as White Sox TV play-by-play man. That could prove to be a break for Zaidman. The organization is hopelessly floundering, its radio-TV wing is toxic and having to feign buddy-buddy with languid Len Kasper would be like a car breakdown on the Dan Ryan with Bill O'Reilly. …
While most serious Bulls fans continue to light candles for the day Zach LaVine permanently sees West Madison Street in his rear-view mirror, Peter Patton and player development staff are steadily picking up credibility. Ty Abbott and crew include fresh Austin Dufault, who was pried away from the Pistons and first nudged national radar as an improbable prep star from tiny Kildeer, North Dakota (where the deer and the frackers play). …
Rumors of Tom Crean to wind up as head coach of the DePaul men's basketball team are on the board at a hefty 20-1. Most importantly, DePaul needs a savvy point person who can generate and distribute money to stars in the NIL era. (Right now, the school is fortunate that the Big East needs to have the veneer of Chicago as a TV market.) …
Also on the Crean front, brother-in-law Jim Harbaugh is now reported to be in “serious” talks to take over as coach of the Chargers. Harbaugh's “Big Fat Greek Wedding” would come guaranteed to produce reams of NFL soap opera. The Spanos family — going back to late patriarch Alex Spanos, who purchased control of the team in 1984 — includes legendary control freaks and ferocious territorial battlers. …
And Michael Johnson, on Sean McDermott's powder-puff fake punt vs. the Chiefs Sunday night: “I'm sure there's a playbook floating somewhere under Niagara Falls that says snap to Damar Hamlin instead of Josh Allen on a fourth down in the fourth quarter of a divisional playoff game.”
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Thursday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.