Robert B. Hess, Sr., a long-time Bay Area horse trainer, has died from complications of COVID-19 after contracting the virus during an outbreak last month at Golden Gate Fields in Berkeley. He was 86.
Hess, who had lived in Castro Valley since 1971, died Saturday at Eden Hospital in Castro Valley, his family said. Son Bob Hess, Jr., a Southern California horse trainer, said Sunday that his father tested positive for novel coronavirus in mid-November at Golden Gate, where he went to work each morning.
Robert Hess was later released from the hospital, his son said, but he was re-admitted when his symptoms returned.
“It seemed promising for sure,” Bob Hess Jr. said. “About 24 hours later he was back there.”
Bob Hess Jr. said his father had been careful when training his horses this year.
“He wore his mask all the time, but somehow someone infected him,” he said.
Golden Gate has suspended live racing until at least Dec. 26 after an outbreak last month in which more than 200 track employees tested positive for COVID-19. Officials said about 95% of those who tested positive were asymptomatic but were moved off track into local accommodations.
Robert Hess Sr.’s horses won 1,592 times in 10,448 starts, earning more than $17.2 million, according to a track statement. His last winner came on Oct. 29 at Golden Gate with the Thoroughbred Just Like Fred. His final starter ran at the Bay Area track on Nov. 8.
“Our hearts and prayers are with the entire Hess family at this time,” David Duggan, Golden Gate Fields, general manager, said in a statement. “To lose a longtime trainer and friend is simply heartbreaking to our entire horse racing family.
Bob Hess Jr. said his father, raised on a farm in Pennsylvania, started working at racetracks after serving in the Army. He worked his way up to training, where he got started in Agua Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico, in the 1960s.
The son said the family moved to the Bay Area 50 years ago after a fire destroyed the grandstand area of the Mexican track. Robert Hess Sr. ran horses at the former Bay Meadows track on the Peninsula as well as Golden Gate Fields.
“He was the hardest working man I know,” Bob Hess Jr. said. “We would go to the track every morning. He lived life his way: with integrity and honor.”
Patrick Mackey, Golden Gate Fields’ director of racing, praised Hess’ legacy.
“Bob was a wonderful horseman who was always there for his fellow race tracker,” he said in a statement. “His stories were legendary. He was a wealth of knowledge and imparted that knowledge to many over the years. He was a great man and his presence here at Golden Gate Fields will be sorely missed.”
Hess is survived by his wife Maria Hess and children, Bob Hess Jr., Howie Hess, Erica Hess and Anna Hess. Services are pending, the family said.