Lerner retiring as a trainer, will continue as an owner

Trainer Andrew Lerner will have his final starter on Saturday at Santa Anita before disbanding his small stable.

Lerner, 32, has won 88 races since he began training in 2017 and said on Thursday that he plans to stay involved in California racing as an owner.

A leading factor in the decision to quit training was the birth of a daughter last month.

“It was a decision I thought about six or seven months ago,” he said. “We have a newborn daughter and my priorities changed.”

Lerner owned horses in partnership before he began training. He has a background in commercial real estate and web design, and said he will pursue opportunities in those fields.

“I’ll be an owner like I was before,” he said.

Lerner won four stakes, all with the mare Queen Bee to You in 2019 and 2020. Queen Bee to You won two Grade 3 stakes – the Bayakoa Stakes at Los Alamitos in December 2019 and the La Canada Stakes at Santa Anita a month later.

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Queen Bee to You’s success in 2019 helped Lerner to career-best earnings of $972,880 that year when the stable numbered as many as 45 horses. Earlier this year, the stable had approximately 30 horses before Lerner began to disband the operation.

Through Sunday, Lerner had 16 wins from 104 runners this year. After this weekend, some horses will be transferred to Simon Callaghan and George Papaprodromou and other trainers, Lerner said.

“We did more than I expected,” Lerner said. “I trained for more than five years. I accomplished a lot more than I thought we would have.”

Lerner’s final runner will be Surely Spectacular in Saturday’s ninth race. Sunday, the focus will shift to his wife, Katie, and their daughter.

“I thought getting up for training was tiring,” he said of caring for the infant. “This is way more time-consuming.”