Racing Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg passed away on Dec. 27, 2017, at age 81. The Kentucky Derby-winning trainer who ranks fourth all-time in career wins in North America was profiled by America’s Best Racing correspondent Tom Pedulla in 2014. Van Berg reflected on the influence of his father, Marion, on his superstar horse from the 1980s, Alysheba, and on his enduring passion for the sport.
Tag: Legends
Pleasant Colony: 1981 Kentucky Derby Winner Was a Genuine Racehorse
Ron McAnally: The Making of a Masterful Horseman
Ron McAnally remembers one element above all others from the formative years he spent at the Covington Protestant Children’s Home, an orphanage in northern Kentucky. He will never forget the view. “They tell me I used to sit at the window and stare for hours,” he said. “I wouldn’t talk to anybody.” McAnally was at the tender age of 5 when he and his four siblings were sent to the home following the death of their mother. He sought comfort wherever he could find it, even at a window.
Kentucky Derby-Winning and Hall of Fame Jockey Bobby Ussery Dies at 88
Hall of Fame jockey Bobby Ussery, a Kentucky Derby winner who was ranked fifth in career earnings when he retired in 1974, has died in South Florida, according to a Nov. 17 Gulfstream Park release. Ussery, a native of Vian, Okla., was 88.
