Nicholas Palmer celebrated the first victory of his training career Friday at Gulfstream Park after saddling Bad Henry for a 5 ¼ length romp in Race 2.
The 30-year-old Jupiter, Fla.-native achieved his career milestone with a horse bred and owned by his parents, Teresa and David Palmer, long-time prominent owners in South Florida.
“It feels amazing. It's really special. I'm happy it was with a homebred,” Palmer said.
Bad Henry ($29.40), a 2-year-old son of Good Samaritan, won for the first time in four career starts in the mile maiden claiming race as the longest price in the six-horse field.
Although he grew up in Thoroughbred racing, Palmer didn't always have a goal to become a trainer.
“It's not really what I always wanted to do. I had another job in film, doing lighting. I took a hiatus and went to the farm and saw a 2-year-olds-in-training sale and it piqued my interest more than racing did when I was a kid,” said Palmer, who lived and worked on an Ocala farm for eight years. “I just loved it and never left the farm. I didn't go back to my job.”
Palmer left the farm to work for some a few prominent trainers before taking out his license earlier this year.
“I worked as a foreman for Danny Gargan three years ago just for the Saratoga meet. Following that I was working for Saffie Joseph as a foreman and then an assistant at Palm Meadows,” Palmer said. “I also worked for Armando De La Cerda for a while, as well.”
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