Jerry Hollendorfer
Jerry Hollendorfer | |
---|---|
Occupation | Pacific Classic (2014) (2016)
Awesome Again Stakes (2014) Bing Crosby Stakes (2015) Santa Anita Sprint Championship (2015) Del Mar Debutante (2015) Santa Anita Oaks Breeders' Cup wins: |
Honours | |
US Racing Hall of Fame (2011) | |
Significant horses | |
Shared Belief, Songbird, Lite Light, Blind Luck, Cause to Believe, Hystericalady, Halo Dolly, Battle of Midway |
Jerry Hollendorfer (born June 18, 1946, in Akron, Ohio) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer whose notable horses include Eclipse Award winners Blind Luck, Shared Belief and Songbird. He has the most wins in the history of Northern California race horse trainers. In 2011, he was inducted into the US Racing Hall of Fame.
Background
Hollendorfer grew up on the outskirts of Akron, Ohio, in a rural area, (
Hollendorfer currently lives in
Hollendorfer is known for buying young horses at auction in the low to mid price range, often using his own money. He then puts together ownership groups, often retaining a percentage of the horse.[6]
Racing career
Hollendorfer struggled for the first six years of his career, saddling a total of 59 winners over the period.[5] In 1985, the number of winners grew to 56 and then to 117 in 1986. In 1986, he also won his first stakes race with Novel Sprite, who won over $400,000 and was named the national Claimer of the Year after Hollendorfer claimed him for $16,000. Hollendorfer's earnings were over $1 million for the first time.[4] In 1986, he won his first trainer titles at both Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields, starting a streak of 37 consecutive training titles at Bay Meadows and 32 titles in a row at Golden Gate. The streak was snapped in the 2008 spring meeting at Golden Gate, when he finished in a tie for second.[4][5]
His first Grade I stakes winner was King Glorious, who won the
Although Hollendorfer has never won an
In December 2007, Hollendorfer won his 5,000th race.[4] His 6,000th win came on September 3, 2011 at Golden Gate Fields.[7] Win 7,000 came on November 25, 2015 when Kiss N Scat won at Golden Gate Field. Among North American trainers, only two others have crossed the 7,000 win barrier: Dale Baird and Steve Asmussen. "I've been blessed to have been in this business as long as I have," said Hollendorfer. "It's a lot of work and nobody can do it by themselves. You have to have excellent help, excellent owners and excellent horses."[8]
He finished in the top 10 of North American trainers by number wins for 29 consecutive years (1987 thru 2015) and has ranked in the top 10 in earnings 15 times.[1][4]
In 2010, Blind Luck became the first Eclipse Award winner trained by Hollendorfer after winning three Grade I races. Hollendorfer also won his first Breeders' Cup race, the Dirt Mile, with Dakota Phone.[1][4]
Hollendorfer was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2011.[4] ""Blind Luck was the final kick in the pants that got me in here," he said. "We took her everywhere and she never let us down for one minute. The East Coast is important and sometimes they don't know what we do out on the West Coast but there are a lot of very good horses and trainers there and a lot of competition."[9]
In 2013, Shared Belief became Hollendorfer's second Eclipse Award winner when he was named
In 2015,
In June 2019, Hollendorfer was banned forever from Stronach Group facilities, owners of Santa Anita Park, following the death of four of his horses in a six-month period at the track. One of the horses that died was Battle of Midway, who had finished third in the 2017 Kentucky Derby. Hollendorfer deemed the action by the Stronach Group to be "premature".[13] In the two years prior at Santa Anita, they had 573 horses and one breakdown.[14]
References
- ^ a b c d "Trainer Profile - Jerry Hollendorfer". www.equibase.com. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ a b Schuelein, Steve. "Jerry Hollendorfer - interview with a racing legend". trainermagazine.com. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ a b Privman, Jay. "Q&A: Jerry Hollendorfer". Daily Racing Form. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Jerry Hollendorfer | National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame". www.racingmuseum.org. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ a b c "Jerry Hollendorfer | Portland Meadows". www.portlandmeadows.com. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ "Jerry Hollendorfer - Equibase Bio" (PDF). equibase.com. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ "Horse trainer Jerry Hollendorfer reaches 6,000-win milestone – The Mercury News". mercurynews.com. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ Stumes, Larry. "Jerry Hollendorfer, horse trainer, saddles 7,000th winner". SFGate. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- ^ Associated Press. "Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer inducted into Racing Hall of Fame - USATODAY.com". USA Today. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ Dwyre, Bill. "Jerry Hollendorfer's patience pays with Shared Belief". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
- ^ Hovdey, Jay. "Shared Belief leaves lasting legacy". espn.com. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ "Still in Tune, Songbird Earns Second Straight Eclipse". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
- ^ "30th horse dies at Santa Anita; trainer banned". ESPN. AP. June 22, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
- ^ "Case of trainer Hollendorfer confuses, rattles Southern California horse racing". Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune. July 13, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2019.