Few Clues in Beating, Police Say

A lucky night at a Temecula blackjack table may have set the stage for the beating of Robert L. Gilbert, 56, a veteran trainer at Los Alamitos Racetrack who remained on life support Thursday at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.

Although Cypress police said they had few clues, Gilbert’s friends and racetrack officials said the native Texan had enjoyed a good run at blackjack Tuesday night after dropping off a horse, champion mare Significant Speed, at Vessels Stallion Farm in Bonsall.

They said that after the drop-off, Gilbert went to the Pechanga Entertainment Center in Temecula with jockey Dusty Stimpson, one of his riders, but that Stimpson left the casino before Gilbert.

The friends and colleagues said Gilbert probably was followed as he drove his pickup truck and horse trailer some 60 miles back to the racetrack in Cypress, then attacked as he unhitched the trailer in a remote area of the grounds.

Police confirmed that robbery was a possible motive. But detectives said the attack occurred around the time Gilbert usually arrives for work and that his assailant could have been waiting for him.

“We don’t know the motive,” said Cypress Lt. Mike Idom, adding that Gilbert was beaten with an unidentified blunt object. “We have no witnesses and no clues.”

The attack occurred in an area outside the secured part of the complex that is used for parking and, most recently, temporarily stowing horse trailers.

“If he had just been in his truck he would have gone to the [gated] barn area and been protected,” said Ed Allred, principal owner of the racetrack and a longtime friend of Gilbert.

Allred said Gilbert’s wallet was in his truck but that the money clip that he habitually carried was missing.

“There are questions we all have: don’t know what they hit him with, what he saw, if he knows who hit him,” said Jeff True, 37, director of marketing at the track. “What we do know is that he’s a longtime veteran of the Los Alamitos racing community, very well-liked, well-respected, trained some of the best horses in the business. Everyone here is pulling for him and praying for him.”

True speculated that Gilbert was robbed at the track because that was most likely the first place he stopped after leaving the casino.

“He had a four-door pickup and 20-foot trailer,” True said. “That’s not the kind of rig you pull into a 7-Eleven parking lot and get a Coke.”

Allred described Gilbert as a popular figure at the track, where horses he trained--including some of Allred’s--were regular winners.

Allred said it was unclear when Gilbert was attacked. He said the engine in the truck was running and the door open, and that Gilbert had apparently unhooked the trailer lights before the assault.

A worker at the track noticed Gilbert sprawled near his truck shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday, when the track begins to come to life, and called security guards. They found Gilbert dazed but awake.

“He had a big swollen jaw. . . . He was disoriented, but he said he didn’t want any medical attention,” True said, adding that Gilbert told the guards that he wanted to go to his horse barn.

“They took him there, but also apparently called police and paramedics. When they arrived, police insisted he receive medical attention.”

Gilbert then slid into unconsciousness, and police were not able to question him.

Times staff writer Scott Martelle contributed to this report.