Hollendorfer Finds Himself in Spotlight

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was 7 in the morning here at Churchill Downs on Wednesday when trainer Jerry Hollendorfer’s phone rang, with Hollywood Park-based assistant Dan Ward on the line. Not 30 seconds later, the phone rang again, with his wife, Janet, based at Golden Gate Fields, checking in with updates on the horses Hollendorfer has there. It’s true. You’ve got to get up pretty early in the morning to beat Hollendorfer.

“I get up at 3 every day,” he said.

Hollendorfer, 64, approaches his craft with uncommon focus. He and his wife have no children. They work long hours, overseeing horses in both Northern and Southern California, before calling it a day around 8 or 9 at night. Save for watching the playoffs of major sports, and rooting for Ohio State – Hollendorfer was born in Akron – it’s all racing, all the time. That singular drive has made Hollendorfer the fourth-winningest trainer of all-time, with 5,781 victories, a three-time winner of the Kentucky Oaks, and about the most prominent name on the list of deserving trainers still not in the Hall of Fame.