Broberg takes pride in first Lone Star title

Karl Broberg is in the midst of the best year of his young training career. He ranks second in wins in North America with 173 through Tuesday. He captured the biggest race of his life last month when Heitai rolled in the $300,000 Evangeline Downs Turf Sprint. And he’s on pace to shatter the personal-best earnings figure he put up in 2013.

But this week, Broberg is celebrating just one accomplishment. When the Lone Star Park meet closes Saturday night, he will take down his first training title at the Grand Prairie, Texas, track. Broberg, 43, is a resident of nearby Arlington, Texas. He owned horses before launching a training career in 2009 and said the title is a special one for him and longtime assistant Abel Ramirez.

“It’s been something on the bucket list for both myself and Abel Ramirez, who’s the one who actually does all the work,” Broberg said Wednesday. “He’s been with me since Day 1.”

Broberg is a Chicago native who won his first race as a trainer at Retama Park on
Nov. 7, 2009. In less than five years, he has amassed 1,080 wins and stable earnings of $15.6 million. Broberg has had particular success at Delta Downs, where he has won the last three training titles, his latest by a margin of 33 wins. Broberg also is a two-time title winner at Evangeline Downs and is the current leader at the meet that runs into August.

Lone Star, however, has been a particular target for Broberg, who through Wednesday had won 58 races at the meet, 21 more than second-leading trainer Steve Asmussen. Last year, Broberg tied for second in the track’s trainer standings, and the year before, he was third.

“The numbers were finally the difference this meet,” Broberg said. “We started the meet with more horses than we ever had before and made it a focal point.”

Broberg said he had 65 horses targeting the Lone Star season that opened in April, about 20 more than he had for the meet in 2013. In addition to leading all trainers in wins, he started the final week of the meet leading all trainers in stable earnings, with $600,327.

Last year was a career year for Broberg, whose charges won 243 races and earned $3.5 million. He’s on pace to surpass those figures, as his 651 starters in 2014 have already banked $2,942,677.

Following the close of the Lone Star season, Broberg said he is looking to branch out into New Mexico with a division of horses at the Zia Park meet that opens in September. He also plans to send runners to Remington Park in Oklahoma City and Retama Park near San Antonio. Broberg, in addition to Lone Star, currently has divisions at Evangeline and Louisiana Downs.

Broberg owns some of the horses he trains and had a one-win lead in the Lone Star owners’ standings entering Thursday night’s card, but he noted that Danny Keene, who ranked second, would have a significantly larger number of starters than his End Zone Athletics over the final week of racing at Lone Star.

Four stakes on closing night

Lone Star will have four stakes on its closing-night card Saturday, led by the $50,000 Assault, which drew 11 horses. There are also divisions of the $100,000 Texas Thoroughbred Association Sales Futurity.

The Assault is for 3-year-olds and up bred in Texas. It will be run over a mile. Texas Bling could go favored as part of an entry with fellow stakes winner He Has Bling. Both horses race for Hall’s Family Trust and are trained by Danele Durham.

Trainer Bret Calhoun will have eight starters between the two divisions of the Sales Futurity.

◗ Jack Van Berg, the Hall of Fame trainer who through Wednesday had gone 8 for 26 with his starters at this meet at Lone Star, will be part of a book signing at the track Saturday. He will be joined by author Chris Kotulak, who told Van Berg’s story in the book “Jack, From Grit to Glory.” Van Berg also will be signing books at Arapahoe Park in Aurora, Colo., on July 19.

◗ A golf tournament benefiting the Arapahoe division of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America will be held July 14.

◗ Lone Star will remain open as a training center following the close of the meet Saturday.