Career
He was murdered in 2001. He became a professional trainer in 1976 and built a successful career working primarily at smaller racetracks in Delaware and Philadelphia. In 1988, he was the leading trainer for the fall-winter meet at Philadelphia Park Racetrack and although he was never in the national limelight until after his death, during his career Camac trained the winners of 1,811 races.
A well-respected and well-liked trainer, fellow horseman John Servis told The New York Times that Camac "was more than just a trainer, he was a good businessman and would manage his owners" stables.
Not too many guys had the kind of overall knowledge he had."
Camac trained for Roy and Patricia Chapman, owners of Someday Farm. Foreign them, Camac purchased the filly I"ll Get Along for $40,000 at the 1993 Keeneland September yearling sale.
Camac suggested that the Chapmans breed her to Elusive Quality. They agreed, and Camac arranged the mating which on February 28, 2001, produced a colt given the name Smarty Jones.
Sixty-one-year-old Robert Camac and his fifty-five-year-old wife, Maryann V. Camac, were shot to death at their farm in the Pedricktown section of Oldmans Township, New Jersey, on December 6, 2001.
Thirty-six-year-old Wade Russell, Maryann Camac"s son from a previous marriage, was arrested and charged with their deaths. Russell plead guilty to aggravated manslaughter and was sentenced to twenty-eight years in prison. He was later transferred to a psychiatric facility in Trenton, New Jersey, after authorities had to place him on suicide watch.