Jimmy Jerkens returns to U.S.; may get into bloodstock business

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After a successful two-year stint training in Saudi Arabia, Jimmy Jerkens has returned to New York. Jerkens, 66, is weighing his options about his future in the sport.

Jerkens trained 12 individual Grade 1 winners, including two Breeders’ Cup winners, in a 26-year career before taking a job in Saudi Arabia to train for Faisal bin Khalid Al Saud. Jerkens said while he wants to be around horses, he is not interested in starting over from scratch in the U.S. with his own stable.

Jerkens, who left Saudi Arabia of his own volition after his contract was up, said he has spoken to prominent individuals in the bloodstock side of the game about potential opportunities.

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“I do know pedigrees very well, I’ve studied them all my life,” said Jerkens, the son of the late Hall of Fame trainer H. Allen Jerkens. “I know them as good as anybody. I know them better than people who are doing sales stuff. I would have no problem getting into the bloodstock business in some regard.”

But Jerkens said he enjoys working with horses. He said he has spoken to one prominent trainer – who he declined to name – about potentially overseeing a string of horses in New York.

“I still like to get up in the morning and be around the horses and stuff,” said Jerkens, who added his preference would be to remain in New York.

Jerkens has won 846 races in his career and trained some talented runners in the likes of Quality Road, Artie Schiller, Preservationist, Corinthian, Effinex, and Wicked Strong. He won two runnings of the Travers with V. E. Day and Afleet Express.

However, with the emergence of super-sized stables, Jerkens’s business dwindled over time. The lack of opportunity and the cost of doing business in New York led him to take the offer in Saudi Arabia where he won more than 50 races in two years. His contract was for two years and when it came up, Jerkens decided to return to the U.S.

Jerkens said he was “really glad” he took the job in Saudi Arabia “because to be in that situation to just train horses and not worry about the other stuff was such a luxury. You don’t have to worry about help and payrolls and stuff like that. Basically train the horse and try to do as good as you can.”

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