Horseman Perkins Sr. passes at 89

Ben Perkins Sr., a New Jersey horsemen who during a 60-year career rode, prepped, bought, trained, pinhooked, and sold horses, died on Wednesday in a hospice facility, his son, Ben Perkins Jr., said on Thursday. Perkins Sr. was 89.

His father died “peacefully surrounded by his family,” said Ben Perkins Jr., a notable trainer in his own right.

A native of Camden, N.J., Perkins Sr. was most closely associated with New Farm of Ebby Novak. Together, they campaigned the stakes winners Conveyor, Appealing Skier, Meadow Monster, Forest Wildcat, Ft. Stockton, Confide, Bright Farm, and Meritocrat. Perkins Sr. also trained Five Star Flight, who won the 1981 Grade 1 Haskell Invitational Stakes at Monmouth Park in N.J.

Perkins arrived at the track in his late teens as an exercise rider, and he was the regular rider for Blue Sparkler, the 1956 Champion Older Mare, and for Maid of Flight, an undistinguished race mare who would find fame as the dam of five-time Horse of the Year Kelso.

“He was always proud of that,” Perkins Jr. said.

Perkins took out his trainer’s license in 1958. He spent his entire career in New Jersey, racing at Garden State Park, Atlantic City Race Course, the Meadowlands, and Monmouth Park. He won 854 races from 4,850 starts, with $13.1 million in purse earnings, before retiring in 1999.

Perkins also was active at sales during this career, as a buyer, seller, and pinhooker. He prepped and sold Brave Raj, the 1986 Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.

During his career, he served as a mentor to his son and to Kelly Breen, the East Coast-based trainer who won the 2017 Belmont Stakes with Ruler on Ice.

“I spoke to him every day,” said Ben Perkins Jr. “He was my best friend, my mentor, and my hero. He used to always say, ‘Do right by the horse and the wins will come your way.’”

In 2007, Monmouth Park named Perkins Sr. the winner of the Virgil “Buddy” Raines Distinguished Achievement Award, the track’s most prestigious honor.

Perkins is survived by his wife, Geraldine; his son Ben; a daughter, Pinky; and four grandchildren.