Kal Kan founder, horse racing mogul Hirsch dies
Greg Risling
A funeral service is scheduled at 11 a.m. Thursday for Clement Lang
Hirsch, a prominent Newport Beach businessman who was instrumental in the
development of the Southern California horse racing circuit.
Hirsch died Friday at his home. He was 85.
The service will be held at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 600 St.
Andrews Road, Newport Beach.
Hirsch was best known for creating Kal Kan dog food and then switching
gears to become a chili king by starting Stagg Foods Inc., one of the
nation’s leading brands of canned foods.
He also took his entrepreneurial skills into the thoroughbred arena,
where he was the driving force behind the Oak Tree Racing Assn. at Santa
Anita race track in Arcadia.
Hirsch was born April 26, 1914, in St. Louis, the second of three
children. The family, which was involved in the retail business, moved to
California in the 1920s. Hirsch graduated from Beverly Hills High School
and attended Menlo College in the Bay Area.
During the 1930s, Hirsch was involved in greyhound racing, having bought
his first dog for $2.50. The poor pooch was ailing, and he nursed it back
to health by feeding it ground meat.
Seeing the need, Hirsch sold dog food door to door throughout the Los
Angeles area. That was the beginning of Kal Kan, which grew to be the
largest independent producer of dog and cat food in the United States. He
sold the company in 1968 to Mars Inc.
Hirsch then changed to producing chili with a label that sported the
slogan: “justifiably expensive.” He passed the company down to his two
sons, who eventually sold the business to Hormel Foods in 1996.
Also influential in the thoroughbred industry, Hirsch and some friends
started Oak Tree, a racing meet held in the fall at Santa Anita. Since
its inception in 1969, Oak Tree has run for more than a month each year
and has twice hosted the Breeders’ Cup, a one-day affair that offers
million-dollar purses for the best horses in the world.
Hirsch was also instrumental in the formation of the Del Mar Thoroughbred
Club. He remained a vice president on the club’s board and helped take
Del Mar from a struggling operation into a thriving midsummer
destination.
In addition, he was a breeder and owner of horses, some of which won
major races over a 50-year span. He had horse farms in Chatsworth and
Poway.
Hirsch was a close friend of comedian-actor Jimmy Durante and was known
to share funny stories about fellow Newport Beach resident John Wayne.
Among his accomplishments, Hirsch was a member of the Jockey Club, former
director of the Thoroughbred Racing Assn. and a trustee of Chapman
University and Hubbs Sea World Research Institute. He was honored with a
special Eclipse Award last year and recently had a race named after him
at Del Mar.
Hirsch is survived by his wife, Lynn; his six children -- Clement Hirsch
Jr., Lynne Hirsch Pearse, Janice Vitti, Gregory Hirsch, Casey Hirsch and
Christopher Hirsch; his three stepchildren, his six grandchildren and
four step-grandchildren.
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