Robert Lewis, the Owner of Silver Charm and Charismatic, Is Dead at 81
NY Times
Robert Lewis, the owner of the Kentucky Derby winners Silver Charm and Charismatic, died yesterday at his home in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 81.
The cause of death was heart failure, said his son Jeff, who added that Lewis had been in failing health.
Lewis, who owned a beer distributorship in Southern California, had been a horse racing fan since his youth and recalled attending Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., when the track opened in 1934.
He owned a small stable until he changed course in 1990 and started to develop one of the nation’s most powerful racing operations. Lewis enjoyed almost instant success. By the mid-90’s, his green-and-gold silks, the colors of his alma mater, the University of Oregon, were regularly seen in winner’s circles across the nation.
He would go on to campaign 50 horses that won stakes races. Chief among them were his two Kentucky Derby winners.
Silver Charm won the 1997 Derby and the Preakness before his Triple Crown bid ended at the Belmont Stakes. Two years later, Charismatic won the Derby as a 31-1 underdog. He, too, captured the Preakness before finishing third at the Belmont Stakes. He sustained a career-ending injury at the Belmont and never raced again. Charismatic and Silver Charm are among the six champions Lewis owned.
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