Trainer Brian Koriner reached a career milestone on Thursday at Del Mar when his horse Diamond Bar Gal got up to win under jockey Juan Hernandez in the second race. It was victory number 1,000 for the 57-year-old conditioner who's been training Thoroughbreds since 1988.
“It's nice to get it out of the way,” Koriner says, “because people make a big deal out of it. I think it was only four starts after 999, so at least it didn't linger on for a long time. Only five days.”
Koriner's career as a trainer actually started with Quarter Horses, which he worked with for over 10 years, much of which was at Los Alamitos. He dabbled in Thoroughbreds during that time and made a fulltime commitment in 1997 up at Golden Gate Fields. At the time he wasn't thinking about 1,000 wins.
“Never thought about it,” Koriner says. “If you're in it long enough, I guess you can get there. You hope you can get to a thousand if you have any success at all.”
He's had plenty, posting annual earnings over $1 million 13 times.
“I've had good people behind me,” Koriner notes. “A lot of it was in Northern California. The last few years here have been slow. I don't know how many wins I have in a year. I think it's 50 and above so that's what got me there.
“That and playing hard ball claiming horses,” he continues. “I don't claim anymore, so it's slowed down. Most of our horses are straight maidens and we just run them through their conditions. When they run out of conditions it gets tough. You can drop them in and unload them but if you're not playing the claiming game it's hard to win a lot of races, I think.”
Koriner has 28 horses here at Del Mar.
“We're not overly stocked with big dollar horses,” he states.
He had one back in 2009 when he trained California Flag, a Cal-bred that won the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita. It earned him the California Thoroughbred and Breeders Association's Trainer of the Year honors. Ask Koriner his favorite win of the 1,000 and he doesn't hesitate with his answer.
“The Breeders' Cup with California Flag,” Koriner says. “I won the Vosburgh (at Belmont Park in New York) with Black Seventeen. That was pretty exciting. He was midstream in his career and loved an 'off' racetrack and ran his eyeballs out that day.”
That was in 2008, a few years after he shifted his base down to Southern California.
“Every win is fun,” Koriner continues. “I won that race yesterday and it was great but then I ran five through the day and that's how quick your day can turn around. You're excited and then the next few don't run that good; it ruins the whole day. I woke up this morning and said 'Wow, I won a race yesterday' then in the back of my mind I'm thinking 'That filly did that and that filly did that.' Now I have to go to the barn to see why it happened.”
It's that kind of dedication that has earned Koriner this special milestone and it's what will get him many more trips to the winners circle before he's done.
The post ‘I’ve Had Good People Behind Me’: Brian Koriner Celebrates 1,000th Training Victory At Del Mar appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
