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.