Allen Jerkens took out his trainer’s license as soon as he turned 21, and he only waited that long because his father forbid him to do so any sooner. He enjoyed solid success almost from the very beginning and won his first stakes race in 1955 with a horse named War Command, whom Jerkens had claimed for $8,000. Seven years later, he agreed to become the private trainer for Jack Dreyfus Jr.’s Hobeau Farm. Though Hobeau Farm didn’t always deal in the most fashionable of pedigrees, it did provide Jerkens with volume. And Jerkens certainly had a knack for getting the most out of his horses.
Tag: Legends
Swaps: A Speedy, Well-Oiled Machine
Barry Irwin, now the head of Team Valor International, was entering his teenage years in Southern California when Swaps burst onto the scene in 1955. “He just really excited me and caught my imagination,” Irwin recalled. Irwin was hardly alone. Swaps’ popularity became so enormous that Union 76 gas stations began distributing posters of him. “I kept pushing my father to get gas there so I could get more pictures,” Irwin said.
Picking Winners: How Andy Beyer Revolutionized Betting on Horse Racing
If there was a Mount Rushmore for horse racing handicappers, it’s an odds-on proposition that the first face on it would belong to Andy Beyer. Some people may have won more money wagering on the races than Beyer, but no other person has enjoyed as profound and prolonged of an impact on the art of handicapping as the 79-year-old graduate of Harvard University.
Gun Runner: Qualities a Horse Needs for a Long, Successful Racing Career
Some racehorses peak at an early age, flashing brilliance right from the start. Others require more time to reach their best form, maturing slowly over the course of several years.
