LOUISVILLE, Ky (WDRB)- The legacy lives on.
“My grandfather and my father, they lived, breathed; it was pure horse racing,” said trainer Tom Van Berg, who is preparing Motion Emotion for Friday's Oaks.
“If we just get a little luck we’re OK. She fits with those horses.”
His barn, No. 32, is centrally located on the backside of Churchill Downs. It's one of the first you find after leaving the gap in the center of the track. The barn has been a part of the Van Berg family for a long time. Tom’s father, Jack, was a Hall of Fame trainer and won the 1987 Kentucky Derby with Alysheba. Tom’s grandpa, Marion, was also inducted in Racing's Hall of Fame in Saratoga, N. Y.
“It’s really defined our family from my Grandpa to my father, and now I’m getting my feet wet in it again,” said Van Berg.
Tom wasn’t going to let the sport totally define him. He didn’t have much of a choice when the bad news came.
“My oldest son Tanner, who is out with me right now, he was diagnosed with leukemia just before his third birthday and so I dispersed my stable and took care of him," said Van Berg. "Three and a half years of chemo and he’s healthy and happy and we’re doing good.”
Tom spent a decade on the handicapping side of horse racing. Eventually he got pulled back to training. When health problems made it difficult for Jack Van Berg to maintain his stable, Tom helped.
“His body started failing him a year and a half ago and he got me back in the game to help him out," said Van Berg. "So I got a good six months before he got really sick and then I was able to take over and keep it going when he passed away.”
Cancer took Jack, but not before he got Tom to return to the stables.
“The thing I realized most when I got back in to it, and I didn’t realize it before, was how much I missed the horses.” said Van Berg.
So here he is, with his two sons at his side, and, of course, Motion Emotion, trying to add to that family legacy.
“Lots of memories, lot of great memories here," Van Berg said. "So hopefully we can build on those. Alyesheba and Gate Dancer were in the 3rd and 4th stall right (behind me) here in the 80’s.
"So hopefully we can put a plaque up there to match Alyesheba’s Derby plaque with an Oaks plaque. That’d be nice.”
The Van Berg name remains on barn 32 at Churchill Downs, where they’re hoping for some good news Friday.
Copyright 2019 WDRB Media. All rights reserved.
