Horse Racing: Palmer’s passion revealed in his book

Don Palmer’s first trip to Hollywood Park for horse races in 1953 captivated him and he fell in love as he took in all the sights. One moment caught his eye and motivated him. It was the tradition and pomp of those in the winner’s circle.

After Palmer saw it live for the first time he told a friend he would someday be in that circle with a winning horse of his own.

It took 22 years and plenty of adversity to make good on that word, but it was well worth it when Palmer won for the first time in 1975 at Hollywood Park. He was along for the ride when Front Cover galloped to victory.

“She got me out of debt,” Palmer says of the horse. “She’s a big part of my life.”

That story, along with several others, are featured in Palmer’s new book, “Driven By the Passion to Own Race Horses.”

The Newport Beach resident is relieved to have finished the book, told in an autobiographical style, after a year of working on it. The book apparently had been in the works since that first time at Hollywood Park in 1953.

Palmer, 81, is excited to have a book signing Saturday morning in the community room at Park Newport, where he has lived for 20 years with his wife, Arline. They’ve been married for 62 years.

This horse racing book is the third he has completed since living there. The view of the Back Bay provided a calming effect and allowed him to find peace amid so much stress during his writing, he said. Much of his written words he says are simple. He writes as he talks in every day conversation.

The words were difficult recently as he dealt with a bladder infection. But Palmer pressed on with a strong desire to finish the book before Del Mar races begin next week.

He believes his new book is a must-own for horse-racing fans, but it’s a story for everyone.

“I think anyone that has ever had a dream or a passion for anything will relate to how I had my passion to own race horses,” Palmer said. “It drove me to succeed, not to really make a lot of money, but to do the fun things I wanted to do.”

Palmer also wanted to write the book, which includes several photos of jockeys, trainers and horses, because he says it will be his legacy.

He didn’t write it to necessarily gain popularity, but to tell his story of his love for horse racing, he said. He wrote about the thrills and disappointments, financial challenges and heartbreaking moments of horse racing. He also provides horse betting tips.

“It’s a story of a guy who fell in love with horse racing the first time he went to a horse race and that passion drove his whole life,” Palmer said. “He was a little guy who had no business being in the sport of kings, but he wouldn’t go away.”

That passion also led him to develop Live Your Dream Racing Stable, which was established in 2010, when Bob Baffert was a trainer with the group.

In his book, Palmer writes about his connections to several famous trainers and jockeys in horse racing. He loves so much about the sport. Naturally, he was thrilled for Baffert and American Pharoah’s recent Belmont Stakes victory that completed the Triple Crown for the first time since 1978.

“That’s one of the best things that ever happened to horse racing,” he said. “It brought it back into the mainstream.”

Horse racing remained a big part of Palmer’s life even when he worked as an advertising sales representative for the Los Angeles Times. He said he was recruited to work there while thriving at the Whittier Daily News. But upon being hired at the Times he could only start work under one condition. He had to return to school to attain his high school diploma.

Palmer says he dropped out of high school as a sophomore in Miami, Fla., because he followed his sweetheart, Arline, to California.

He says he wouldn’t quit on her, even though her parents mainly moved to separate the two because the relationship became “hot and heavy,” Palmer says. They ended up marrying in Las Vegas when Palmer was 18 and Arline was 17.

They have three children and seven grandchildren.

Palmer’s second book is about the couple’s romance, titled: “The Memorable Fifties.”

Palmer’s first book is about his childhood, “Memories of a Chattanooga Street Kid.” It is well known in the Tennessee town where Palmer grew up and where he shined shoes and sold newspapers on street corners.

During his fascinating life, Palmer also worked as a milkman and an encyclopedia salesman. He was also a pro baseball player but never got past the minor leagues because of a back injury.

He also could have doubled as Martin Sheen’s look-alike, as he receives several comments that he resembles the famous actor.

Palmer wants to produce a film that will be about his life, his three books. Taking a look at his history, it seems inevitable.

“I always like to tell people when they ask me, ‘what’s the greatest thing you’ve done?’” he says. “I like to think I haven’t done it yet.”

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If You Go

What: Donald E. Palmer Book Signing

Where: Park Newport Club Room at 1 Park Newport in Newport Beach

When: Saturday, 11 a.m.

Book: Driven By the Passion to Own Race Horses ($29.95)

The book will also be available online, at Amazon, and donpalmenterprises.com