Spa Training Award to Bear Jerkens' Name

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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt

Trainer Allen Jerkens.

The New York Racing Association announced Aug. 23 that the training title at Saratoga Race Course will be named in honor of Hall of Famer H. Allen Jerkens.

"Mr. Jerkens epitomizes the highest standards any horseman can aspire to and NYRA is extremely pleased to be able to name racing’s most prestigious training title after him," NYRA executive vice president and COO Harold G. Handel said in a release.

In 1975, Jerkens became the youngest trainer elected to the Hall of Famen at age 45. He won the first of three consecutive training titles in 1971, saddling 12 winners during the 24-day meet. Including a tie with Woody Stephens and Sid Watters, Jr., in 1978, Jerkens has four Saratoga titles to his credit.

At Saratoga, Jerkens, 81, has saddled grade I winners Classy Mirage, who won the 1995 Ballerina; Shine Again, a two-time winner of the Ballerina in 2001-02; November Snow, who won the Test and the Alabama in 1992; Sky Beauty, winner of the 1993 Alabama, and the 1994 Go for Wand, and Society Selection, who in 2004 also won the Test and the Alabama.

Nicknamed "The Chief," Jerkens sent out longshot Onion to defeat Triple Crown winner Secretariat in the 1973 Whitney (gr. I), helping establish Saratoga as the "Graveyard of Favorites."

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