Melvin F. Stute

Melvin Stute
OccupationTrainer
BornAugust 8, 1927
Fort Wayne, Indiana
DiedAugust 12, 2020 (aged 93)
Career wins2,000
Major racing wins
Californian Stakes (1961)
San Carlos Handicap (1961, 1978)
Del Mar Oaks (1969)
Frank E. Kilroe Mile Handicap (1970, 1995)
Del Mar Futurity (1975)
Norfolk Stakes (1975, 1985)
Haggin Stakes (1975)
California Juvenile Stakes (1975)
California Derby (1976)
Carleton F. Burke Handicap (1977)
Affirmed Handicap (1981)
Santa Catalina Stakes (1981)
San Felipe Stakes (1981)
Mervyn Leroy Handicap (1984)
Santa Ynez Stakes (1984, 1986, 1987)
Hollywood Futurity (1985)
Del Mar Debutante Stakes (1986)
El Camino Real Derby (1986, 1989)
Florida Derby (1986)
Jersey Derby (1986)
San Fernando Stakes (1986)
Santa Anita Derby (1986)
Fantasy Stakes (1987)
Monrovia Handicap (1987, 1996)
Oaklawn Handicap (1987)
Railbird Stakes (1987, 2003)
Strub Stakes (1987)
Test Stakes (1987)
Dixie Stakes (1988)
La Brea Stakes (1988)
Las Flores Handicap (1989)
Las Virgenes Stakes (1989)
Martha Washington Stakes (1989)
San Vicente Stakes (1989)
El Encino Stakes (1995)
Morvich Handicap (1995)
San Rafael Stakes (1997)
Triple Bend Invitational Handicap (1997)
Palos Verdes Handicap (1998)
Sensational Star Handicap (1998)
Landaluce Stakes (2002)
Sorrento Stakes (1986, 2002)
Best Pal Stakes (2003)
Santa Paula Stakes (2003)
Hollywood Juvenile Championship Stakes (2003)
Speakeasy Stakes (2007)

U.S. Triple Crown series:
Preakness Stakes (1986)

Breeders' Cup wins:
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (1986)
Breeders' Cup Sprint (1987)

Racing awards
Laffit Pincay Jr. Award (2006)
Honours
Fairplex Park Hall of Fame (2003)
Mel Stute's Bar at Hollywood Park Racetrack
Significant horses
Brave Raj, Double Discount, Snow Chief, Telly's Pop, Very Subtle

Melvin Frederick "Mel" Stute (August 8, 1927 – August 12, 2020) was an American trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. On December 11, 2010, at Hollywood Park Racetrack, he won the 2000th race of a career [1] that includes a win in the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series, the Preakness Stakes in 1986,[2] the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies that same year, and the 1987 Breeders' Cup Sprint.[3]

Stute was the younger brother of trainer Warren Stute (1921–2007). His family moved to California in 1934 when Mel was seven years old.[4] In his teens, Stute worked as a groom at Santa Anita Racetrack before winning his first race as a trainer in 1947 at Portland Meadows Racetrack in Portland, Oregon. Since then he won twelve training titles at various California tracks of which six were at Fairplex Park Racetrack, where he is the all-time leader in races won.[5]