Veteran Trainer Eddie Truman Retires

A former assistant to Bobby Frankel and a licensed trainer for more than 50 years, Eddie Truman announced on Monday that he had sent his final horse to the track on New Year's Eve morning at Santa Anita—ending a racetrack run that dates back to the early 1960s.

A winner of 763 races from 5,334 starters, with purse earnings of $15.7 million, Truman said that with his 77th birthday fast approaching Jan. 23, the time was right for him and his wife Elizabeth to step away from a way of life that dates back to his teenage years, when, as an apprentice jockey in 1963 at Sportsman's Park in Chicago, he led all riders.

“I've been blessed to have a great group of owners, some of them for 40 years,” Truman said. “I believe the great horses, the great jockeys, here in a great setting is something we could never replace and that Santa Anita will continue forever.”

Truman, who following an initial run as a licensed trainer for one year in Detroit, MI and a subsequent trip to Europe, came to Southern California in 1972. His first stop was the backstretch at Hollywood Park, where he introduced himself to Frankel, in the hopes of securing a job as an exercise rider, assistant, or whatever might be available.

“When I came back from Europe, I decided I wanted to be a trainer and that I wanted to go with the best…Forget everything I thought I knew and try to learn from the best. And so, it was Charlie Whittingham or Bobby Frankel,” said Truman. “I happened to walk into Bobby's barn first and I asked him if I could get on some horses or if there were any jobs available. He said 'Who are you?' And I said 'Eddie Truman.' And he said 'Oh my God, you were riding when I was walking hots at Tropical Park in 1963!' So then, he told me to go get on a horse and I was in.”

He continued, “I've just been associated with such great people and they were not only clients, but really nice friends. All these people and of course, the horses, have made it spectacular, a dream come true for me.”

Truman's top horses include Go West Marie ($452,600); Irish-bred Casino King ($328,689); Moonless Sky ($269,120) and With Iris ($251,740).

—courtesy Mike Willman, Santa Anita Stable Notes

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Desert Debuters: Audible Gelding Set Tall Task

In this series, we will have a look at American-bred first-time starters in maiden races at the tracks of the Emirates Racing Authority–predominantly Meydan and occasionally Jebel Ali–with a specific focus on pedigree and/or performance in a sales ring in the meetings leading up to the Dubai World Cup program Saturday, Mar. 30, 2024. Meydan will host racing mainly on Fridays, with the exception of Super Saturday Mar. 2 and Dubai World Cup night. Here is one horse of interest making its debut under the Friday night lights:

5th-MEY, Allowance, AED300k ($82k), NH/SH3yo, 1400mT
ALWAYS IN FIRE (Audible) will spot each of his 15 rivals some valuable racetrack experience as the lone firster in this Jumeirah Guineas Trial, but he has some pedigree to recommend him. The Apr. 26 foal is a son of Inspeight of Us (Speighstown), whose son Momos (Distorted Humor) defeated Saratoga maidens at first asking before going on to four black-type placings, two at the graded level as a juvenile. Inspeight of Us is a half-sister to Daddys Lil Darling (Scat Daddy), winner of the GI American Oaks  on the grass and the dam of the listed-winning and G1 Betfred Oaks runner-up Savethelastdance (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). The SW & GSP second dam Miss Hot Salsa (Houston) is also responsible for GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint upsetter Mongolian Saturday (Any Given Saturday) and SW Victoryasecret (Victory Gallop). Harmash Racing paid $120,000 for Always in Fire after he breezed a furlong in :10 flat at OBS last June.

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Still Sidelined After Run-In with Gulfstream Geese, Sutherland Fears She’ll Never Ride Again

For Chantal Sutherland, it started out as a freakish accident. She rode Haruki (Karakontie {Jpn}) in the May 6 English Channel S. at Gulfstream and as the horses were pulling up she encountered a bunch of geese who were crossing over the turf course. Spooked by the birds, the horse stopped abruptly and sling shotted Sutherland to the ground.

The result was that she broke the humerus bone completely off from her shoulder. She said that her left arm snapped at the base of the shoulder and that it went up into her collarbone. She also broke her left pelvis.

Early estimates were that she would be out about three months. More than seven months later, the 47-year-old jockey has not ridden, there is no timetable for her return and she fears that she will never ride again.

“I'm working on my range of motion,” she said. “I feel like I'm at a certain point and it's not getting better right now. My doctor said it will need time. Obviously, when you're a jockey, time is not your friend. I would love to be able to ride again. That's the dream. But the reality is I really don't know.”

“I hope it doesn't come to that, that I have to retire,” she said. “I'm not in any position to ride at a top level. There's no way. It would be dangerous and I have to get to the point where I can use my left arm. I can't. My arm won't straighten and I have a three second delay from my brain to arm. It needs a lot more work. I've been working really hard at it. I dream of racing again, but I don't know.

“It's my range of motion,” she continued. “I can't get my arm above my head. My shoulder only goes to a certain point with my muscles and my range motion. I can't lift a two-pound weight above my head. I can't get my arms above my head. I practice laying down, like a swimmer, my left arm low to the side. My right arm is perfectly strong. I could hold a horse if I wanted with reins with my right arm. But my left side is awkward. Nothing is in sync. I have no control of that.”

That the accident was so avoidable continues to haunt Sutherland. She said a trainer stabled near the clubhouse turn feeds the birds during the last break during morning training and again late in the day. The geese live in the infield lake and cross the racetracks to get fed, she said. She doesn't understand why Gulfstream didn't take steps to keep the geese off of the track.

“Am I really pissed off? Yes,” she said. “I've gone through a lot of anger with this. I was alone. I never got a phone call from the trainer. Never got a text. I heard from no one. I'm still emotional about it. I went through a lot of anger and I was really depressed. I wanted to give up. I think I am pretty stable, but talking about it is too hard. I had a good five, seven years left as a jockey. It hurts a lot.”

She is currently working as an assistant trainer to Jorge Delgado and recently took out her real estate license, but that's not what Sutherland wants to do. She wants to ride again.

“It's just that right now it doesn't look good,” she said. “I am praying for a miracle.”

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