Colt honors iconic trainer Jack Van Berg

It was on Nov. 5, 1988, that Alysheba prevailed in one of the greatest renewals of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, holding off Seeking the Gold in near darkness at Churchill Downs. Jack Van Berg was the winning trainer.

“I was standing right next to Dad in the box at Churchill,” recalled Tom Van Berg, Jack’s son. “It was a pretty surreal experience. It was so dark it was hard to see what was going on, but everything turned out great.”

Nearly 30 years later, a 2-year-old colt named Jack Van Berg will honor the memory of the late Hall of Fame trainer when he goes postward versus 10 other maidens in the second race Friday at Churchill. The son of To Honor and Serve is owned by the Muddy Waters Stable of Mike Waters, who was one of the last clients for Jack Van Berg prior to his death from complications of cancer in December 2017.

Jack Van Berg, the colt, has two starts, both in minor stakes at Emerald Downs in Washington. The colt was sent to Tom Van Berg in mid-September.

“They’ve thought highly of this colt all along,” said Van Berg, who assumed the training of his father’s stable at Oaklawn Park last winter. “He acts like a decent colt.”

Tom Van Berg, 49, said he finds it “very appropriate” that the colt named for his iconic father will make his local debut on a Breeders’ Cup undercard. The long-term goal, of course, is the same as with all 2-year-olds – to win the Kentucky Derby the following May.

“Mike asked Dad’s permission to name the horse for him right before Dad died,” he said. “Dad always said he had one more Derby with his name on it – but he didn’t know it’d be the name of a horse.”