Trainer Forrest Kaelin, 83, retires

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Forrest Kaelin has disbanded his small stable due to his deteriorating health and has officially retired after more than 65 years in racing.

Kaelin, 83, was a jockey as a teenager and once rode six winners in a row on a card at the old Wheeling Downs in West Virginia. A serious injury soon thereafter led him to training, and for some 50 years, he was stabled in the same barn at Churchill, where his shed row entrance was only 50 feet or so across from that of D. Wayne Lukas.

“Forrest has seen a lot, done a lot, been a lot of places,” said Jimmy Baker, who assumed the training of Kaelin’s last two horses. “He’s a good man, a real credit to the game.”

As a trainer, Kaelin won 1,600 races, most notably back-to-back runnings of the Stephen Foster (1982-83) with Vodika Collins; the 1999 Kentucky Cup Classic with 65-1 shot Da Devil; four stakes with Crimson Classic, his lone Kentucky Derby starter (1997); and nine stakes with the sprinter Good Lord, an earner of more than $800,000.

Kaelin’s final winner was Shea’s Cool, who captured the opening race May 11 at Churchill.