JC / Railbird

Trainers/Training Archive

Missing Smarty

The Pennsylvania Derby was supposed to be Smarty Jones’ return to racing, the start of a dashing fall campaign culminating on Breeders’ Cup day. Instead, the three-year-old colt was retired at the end of the July. For trainer John Servis, “All that’s left is the memories of an incredible run that … started last November when Smarty Jones began his racing career.” (Bucks County Courier Times)

Posted in Trainers/Training on September 7, 2004

“Early to rise, Lukas is wise”

“Jay Leno and David Letterman are complete strangers to trainer Wayne Lukas. The Hall of Fame horseman’s legendary work ethic doesn’t include late-night chat shows. It does involve starting every workday at 3:30 a.m., a schedule Lukas says he has maintained ever since he started training racehorses more than 30 years ago.” (New York Daily News)
Related: “Lukas loaded for big weekend” (ESPN)

Posted in Trainers/Training on August 17, 2004

Trainer Phil Johnson Dies

Phil Johnson, the trainer who won the 2002 Breeders’ Cup with Volponi, died on Friday at age 78. (New York Times)
Related: “New York racing loses a gem” (Daily Racing Form)

Posted in News, Trainers/Training on August 7, 2004

Getting It Right at the Gate

“Thoroughbreds, most of them tending toward paranoid schizophrenia, have a deep-rooted fear of restraint, narrow enclosure, and loud noises. The starting gate requires them to hold still in a claustrophobic pen while men shout, horses squeal, and metal doors bang open and shut. There is also a loud bell, just for yucks” (Daily Racing Form).

Posted in Trainers/Training on July 12, 2004