Book Signing: Chris Kotulak & Hall of Fame Trainer: Jack van Berg - 08/10/2013

"Jack: From Grit to Glory" book signing by author Chris Kotulak & HOF trainer, Jack van Berg

Meet Hall of Fame trainer, Jack van Berg and author Chris Kotulak in the Museum lobby.

Chris & Jack will be autographing the book:  "Jack: From Grit to Glory"

Jack got his first taste of the Triple Crown in 1981, when he took over the training of Bold Ego. Bred by J. D. Barton, the New Mexico–bred was transferred into Jack’s name just before the Kentucky Derby. He’d already won seven of ten races for trainers Cliff Lambert and Dennis Werre. He was voted the Champion Two-Year-Old in New Mexico, and the speedball had won all of his races in sprints and on the lead with jockey John Cushing. Werre was running the barn for Jack in Hot Springs at the time and Bold Ego had already won a sprint stake at Oaklawn before Jack showed up to see him. As Jack Remembers:

I worked him a mile one morning and that little clocker named Scatch came running down and said, “Jack, that horse will go a route of ground.” So I decided to run him in the one mile Rebel Stakes. The owners thought I was crazy running him in the one mile race, so they didn’t even come to town for the race. Hell, he won that race for fun and he won the Arkansas Derby, too. He won three in a row there in Hot Springs with John Lively up, and we just beat Top Avenger, so I figured we’d go to Kentucky.