Sad news circulated around the nation's racing community Friday morning as word of Hall of Fame trainer Flint "Scotty" Schulhofer's death spread. Schulhofer, 80, passed away in Florida Thursday night after a bout with cancer.

He is survived by his wife Stephanie, daughters Margaret Rapp and Susan Kleinbub and son Randy, a former trainer. Schulhofer had seven grandchildren: Jordan, Haley and Thomas Rapp, Miranda Steadman, Isabelle Kleinbub and Scott and Evan Schulhofer.

A funeral service will be Monday morning at 11 a.m. EST at Shellhouse Funeral Home, 924 Hayne Ave., in Aiken, South Carolina, Schulhofer's birthplace.

Schulhofer enjoyed a tremendous career as a trainer, training six champions who won seven Eclipse Awards, including Lemon Drop Kid, champion older male in 2000. Schulhofer considered Lemon Drop Kid the best horse he ever trained. Fly So Free, Mac Diarmida, Rubiano, Smile and Ta Wee also earned championships under Schulhofer.

Jockey Jose Santos teamed up with Schulhofer on several champions, including Fly So Free, Lemon Drop Kid and Rubiano.

"It definitely hurts," Santos said of Schulhofer's death. "I had a great relationship with Scotty when I came to New York in 1985. He put me on a lot of winners. He had a heart of gold and he was a great horseman. He always spoke the truth and always told you in black and white what was going on. My condolences to his family.

"My favorite memories of Scotty was coming to the barn in the morning to visit when he had Fly So Free and Lemon Drop Kid. When we won the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga in 1994 with Colonial Affair, that was a big achievement for both of us."

A year earlier, Colonial Affair and Schulhofer grabbed headlines when the colt's jockey, Julie Krone, became the first female rider to win a Triple Crown race in the 1993 Belmont Stakes.

At the age of 17, Schulhofer began working with horses for trainer Oleg Dubassoff. Soon he was serving as an infantry man in the 94th division on the front lines in Germany during World War II. When Schulhofer returned home after his service, he studied pre-med for two years at The Citadel before returning to work for Dubassoff. Schulhofer began training when John Nerud retired from Tartan Farms and he later opened a public stable in 1972.

Schulhofer, inducted into the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame in 1992, began his training career in 1962 after riding as a steeplechase jockey from 1950 to 1962. He retired from training in 2001 with 1,119 victories from 7,157 starters. His horses earned purses of $52,245,076.

Alhtough Schulhofer's last winner as a trainer came five years ago, he was associated with victorious racehorses as late as the day of his death. In Thursday's sixth race at Aqueduct, Schulhofer bred the winner Commodore Way. He trained the gelding's dam, Chloe.

As Santos said, Schulhofer always spoke what was on his mind and never minced words. When I first started working for the New York Racing Association's press office in 1999, Schulhofer and Lemon Drop Kid were on top of the racing world, winning the Belmont Stakes and Travers.

Reporters always had to be prepared when interviewing Schulhofer because if you asked him a question he did not like, he would not be afraid to tell you what he thought.

One day, I asked him a question about Lemon Drop Kid that he didn't particularly care for and Schulhofer, in his typical witty response with a Southern accent responded, "Are you a journalist? Do you go to school for that sort of thing?"

I had to laugh later in the summer when an attractive female reporter asked him if Lemon Drop Kid could repeat in the Travers next year. To that Schulhofer kindly explained, "The Travers is only for three-year-olds. He'll be four next year."

While scouring the backstretch at the Oklahoma training track this summer, I was fortunate enough to bump into Schulhofer, who had been visiting with his friend, trainer Sal Russo.

"I miss it and I love to get up here for this month," Schulhofer said in early August. "I've had a lot of fun in this game and I'll always love it."

The late trainer fondly remembered one of his favorite horses, Lemon Drop Kid, and was excited about how his offspring were starting to excel on the track.

"I always told people he was the best horse I've ever trained. I had a lot of good ones, but he was the real thing."

Lemon Drop Kid, who stands at Lane's End Farm for $20,000, got off to a bit of a slow start at stud, but his offspring are enjoying their best year on the racetrack as his daughter, Lemons Forever, won the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at a huge price earlier this year.

"They're really starting to do well," Schulhofer said of the Lemon Drop Kid progeny. "His daddy (Kingmambo) was the same way; a little slow to get going."

We'll all be a little slow to get over the loss of Scotty Schulhofer.