Hirsch, Maximilian J.
Horse racing
b. July 12, 1880, Fredericksburg, TX
d. April 3, 1969
When he was ten years old, Hirsch began riding quarter horses. He rode in a railroad boxcar to Maryland when he was twelve and worked as an exercise boy, then spent five years as a jockey before becoming a trainer.
In sixty years of training horses, Hirsch produced the winners of 1,933 races and $12,203,270 in purses. Among his champions were Assault, who won the triple crown in 1946; Bold Venture, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 1936; Middleground, who won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont in 1950; and Belmont Stakes winners Vito (1928) and High Gun (1928).
Rugged looking and raspy-voiced, Hirsch was outgoing and well-liked. His home, a cottage between horse barns at Belmont Park, was a gathering place for trainers and other horse people, and Hirsch freely offered advice, counsel, and even money to younger trainers. One writer referred to him as "the softest touch on the race track."