Longtime Southwest trainer Morris Nicks dies; won 2011 Louisiana Downs title

Morris Nicks, a longtime trainer in the Southwest and the father of prominent horseman Ralph Nicks, died Nov. 25 at his home in Waskom, Texas, according to his wife, Ellen.

Morris Nicks, who had been battling cancer, was 74.

His imprint on the sport includes being a mentor to his son, who trained champion Caledonia Road, as well as trainers Tim Ice, who trained champion Summer Bird, and Joey Foster, who is a multiple title winner at Louisiana Downs.

Morris Nicks, who retired from training in March 2018 due to health issues, won the Louisiana Downs title in 2011. He made his home near the Bossier City, La., track later in his career. Nicks long was a regular at Oaklawn Park and Churchill Downs, and when he retired was based at Fair Grounds.

Nicks was born in Clarksville, Texas, and grew up on a farm in nearby Avery. He was introduced to racing at another farm about a mile away, which was where Nicks first galloped horses and later rode match races. At 17, he spent a summer at Ruidoso Downs.

“It grew on me,” Nicks said in a 2018 interview with Daily Racing Form. “I’m an animal person, and I always just loved racing.”

Nicks took out a trainer’s license at 18 at Oaklawn, back in the 1960s.

“The called me ‘The Kid’ at Oaklawn,” he said in the interview. “I did not have a win the first year at Oaklawn. I remember that. I had a lot of seconds. I had one filly that ran four seconds.”

Nicks believes his first win came the next meet at Oaklawn.

Nicks would go on to win graded stakes with Golden Sonata at Oaklawn and Run Johnny at Churchill Downs. His long list of stakes winners also includes Tensas Yucatan, Pure Tactics, Old Bushmill, Groovy Jett, Northern Scene, Rhonda Legs, and Smitty’s Sunshine.

“Smitty’s Sunshine was a neat little mare,” Nicks said. “She won six races in a row and five of them were $100,000 stakes. Five in a row! She was a good one.”

Daily Racing Form records for Nicks show that from 1976 through 2018 he won 819 races as a trainer from 5,204 starts. Those runners earned a cumulative $15.7 million. During the same period, Nicks won 36 stakes races.

Ralph Nicks said his father requested no funeral services.

Morris Nicks, in the 2018 interview, said one of his favorite racing memories was being at the Eclipse Awards with Ralph when Caledonia Road won for outstanding 2-year-old filly of 2017.

“I can’t explain how special it was,” Morris Nicks said. “I can’t put it into words.”