Jerkens Hospitalized, But Showing Improvement

by Mike Kane

Beloved Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens, considered to be one of the all-time greats in American racing, was showing some signs of improvement Monday in the intensive care unit of a South Florida hospital. 

Jerkens, 85, is fighting a severe infection and has been a patient at Aventura Hospital and Medical center since Saturday. Trainer Jimmy Jerkens told Daily Racing Form Monday afternoon that his father appeared to be making some progress. Jimmy Jerkens said that his father was breathing with the help of a respirator, but was in better condition than he was on Sunday. 

Although he dislikes the nickname, Jerkens has been called the “Giant Killer” for more than 40 years since horses he trained scored upset victories over Hall of Famers Kelso, Buckpasser and Secretariat. Beau Purple knocked off Kelso three times, Handsome Boy defeated Buckpasser and, in 1973, Jerkens beat Secretariat twice, with Onion in the Whitney and with Prove Out in the Woodward. In the 1998 Jockey Club Gold Cup Jerkens added his legend when Wagon Limit, at odds of 34-1, cruised through the mud at Belmont Park to handily defeat Gentlemen and Hall of Famer Skip Away. 

A native of Islip, N.Y. on Long Island, Allen Jerkens has been around horses all his life and started training when he was a teenager in the 1940s. The horses ran in his father's name until he turned 21 and took out his own license in 1950. Jerkens won an Eclipse Award as the nation's top trainer in 1973. At the age of 45 in 1975, he was the youngest flat trainer inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame. Jerkens held that distinction until Bill Mott was elected in 1998. Steeplechase standout Daniel “Mikey” Smithwick, inducted in 1971, is the youngest trainer to be enshrined. 

Jerkens, who still operates a small stable, was based in New York through 2013. He stayed in Florida after the conclusion of Gulfstream Park's Championship Meet in 2014. His wife Elisabeth died in August. 

According to Equibase, Jerkens ranks eighth in career wins with 3,858 and 14th in career earnings with 
$103 million. This year, he has a record of 2-2-3 from 17 starts.