Philip Teinowitz, a Chicago businessman who owned four horses that raced in the Kentucky Derby and as a real estate investor had a hand in the development of Sears Tower, has died at 92.
Mr. Teinowitz, who lived on Chicago’s Gold Coast, died Sunday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to his son Billy Teinowitz.
In the 1960s, he and his partners Albert I. Rubinstein and Bernard Feinberg, president of Jefferson State Bank, had the foresight to invest in property on the rundown west side of the Loop. They bought about 22 parcels, mostly old buildings and empty lots. Sears bought the land and broke ground in 1970 for what would become the world’s tallest building, a title it held for years.
Mr. Teinowitz liked to say, “I grew up on the GVS” — a Yiddish-flavored acronym for the Jewish neighborhood dubbed “the Great Vest Side” by some from the Old Country and went to Marshall High School. He was one of three boys born to Lithuanian Jewish parents, Harry and Olga Teinowitz. His dad was a peddler.
“His father would buy something for a nickel and sell it for a dime,” Billy Teinowitz said.
He and his brothers Neil and Norman were drafted in World War II. Norman, the oldest, never came home. He was shot while flying over Italy. Neil was in the Army. Philip served in the Navy, where he helped operate a ship storeroom that dealt in candy, cigarettes and Aqua Velva aftershave. That posting helped teach him the art of negotiation, his son said: “It was his training in how to barter and get someone to come into his corner.”
After the war, he went to the University of Illinois on the GI Bill. He told his kids there were so many ex-soldiers going there that beds had to be set up at a nearby armory. He went on to get a law degree from John Marshall Law School.
He and Rubinstein partnered in Fleetwood Realty, named for Rubinstein’s Cadillac Fleetwood.
Young Philip got hooked on horse racing growing up amid the thriving bookie operations on the West Side, according to his son Billy, who said: “Some guys like to golf. Some guys like to have a boat. He liked the track.” He bought his first horse in 1956.
Two of his horses, Royal Leverage and On the Money, ran against winner Canonero II in the 1971 Kentucky Derby. Another, Blue Chip Dan — named for his son Danny — came in last out of four while competing against the legendary victor of the 1973 Arlington Invitational: Triple Crown-winner Secretariat. In 1977, his horse Flag Officer ran in the Derby, losing to Seattle Slew, another Triple Crown-winner.
In 1987, his horse Cryptoclearance ran fourth in the Kentucky Derby, behind winner Alysheba, and finished third in the Preakness Stakes and second in the Belmont Stakes. The thoroughbred had career earnings of $3.3 million and brought in more than $10 million at stud, with offspring that included 1998 Belmont Stakes-winner Victory Gallop.
“He used to say he needed Cryptoclearance to make up for all his other losers,” his son said.
In addition to his sons Billy and Danny, Mr. Teinowitz is survived by Donna, his wife of 37 years, daughter Nancy and sons Harry, the WGN radio host, and Matthew.
