Although Catrone met with some success as a jockey, he achieved nationwide recognition as a trainer.
Following Emerson's death in a May 1943 auto accident, Catrone trained for several owners until 1948 when he was hired by William G. Helis, Sr. whose colt Spartan Valor[2] would be described by Catrone as the best horse he had trained up to that time.
[3] By 1964, Catrone was the secondary trainer behind Clyde Troutt for the breeding/racing stable of Dan and Ada Rice.
When the Rices decided to race at Santa Anita Park over the winter of 1964–65, one of the horses Catrone brought West was a colt named Lucky Debonair who had made only one start at age two at the Atlantic City Race Course, where he finished out of the money.
[4] In 1966, Lucky Debonair won California's most famous race, the Santa Anita Handicap.