Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg dies at 81 after illness

Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg died Wednesday at age 81, his publicist, Christ Kotulak, announced, leaving behind a legacy of superior horsemanship and everlasting kindness.

“His family appreciates your understanding as they complete plans for a memorial service,” Kotulak said of Van Berg, who conditioned, among others, 1988 Horse of the Year Alysheba.

Van Berg had been recovering from throat surgery in October and was more recently hospitalized in Arkansas while battling cancer.

The Nebraska native trained Alysheba to a victory in the 1987 Kentucky Derby and also conditioned 1984 Preakness Stakes winner Gate Dancer. His National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame induction came in 1985 and came on the heels of the same honor for his father, Marion, who was inducted in 1970.

Van Berg helped to revolutionize the training business in the 1970s, as he operated multiple stables in various geographic locales, often visiting each several times a week while “living on airplanes.”

Although his equine fortunes had dwindled in Southern California, a switch to Oaklawn Park in 2014 proved to be an elixir as Van Berg proved yet again that he could compete and win on one of the nation’s toughest racing circuits. 

And, to what did he ascribe his newly re-found success?

“I’ve changed my feed program,” he told Bill Finley with the Thoroughbred Daily News. “I’m feeding faster horses."

Van Berg’s stable continued its resurgence in 2017, as he won 42 races from 269 starters. For his career, Van Berg-trained horses won 6,523 races, fourth-most all-time in North America according to Equibase, with their earnings totaling more than $85 million.

Van Berg is survived by a son, trainer, Tom Van Berg, and three daughters, Tori, Tammy and Traci. He was predeceased earlier this year by another son, trainer Tim Van Berg. Funeral services for Jack Van Berg are pending.

A Santa Anita Park news release contributed to this report.