Longtime Southern California trainer Eddie Truman retires

Eddie Truman, a fixture among Southern California trainers for 50 years, has retired.

Truman, 76, had his final runner at Los Alamitos on Dec. 17, and won most recently at Santa Anita in June.

His retirement, announced on Thursday through Santa Anita’s publicity department, ends a career that includes 763 wins.

A former jockey, Truman had his best year as a trainer in 1980, winning 53 races, including stakes at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona with Damas and Marble Court.

Truman trained Casino King, a stakes winner at Remington Park in 1999 and at Golden Gate Fields in 2001, and had two outstanding California-bred mares in the 2010s with Go West Marie and Moonless Sky.

Go West Marie won three of her final four starts in 2015 in stakes for statebreds, including the Fran’s Valentine Stakes at a mile on turf in May of that year. Two years later, Moonless Sky won her lone stakes of her career in the Fran’s Valentine.

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Truman, an avid sportsman occasionally seen riding his bike to Santa Anita from his nearby home in Sierra Madre, had fewer starters in recent years. His only win in 2023 was with Love Our Family in a maiden claimer at Santa Anita in June.

In a statement announcing his retirement, Truman said he plans to spend time with a newborn granddaughter and travel with his wife.

“We had a lot of success claiming horses,” he said. “I’ve been associated with such great people and they were not only clients, but really nice friends.

“All these people and, of course, the horses, have made it spectacular, a dream come true for me.”

Truman recently had two knees replaced. Proving he is on his way to recovery, Truman said he went on a 40-mile bicycle ride on Friday through Southern California.

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