Jack: From Grit To Glory
Aug 13, 2013 22:59:38 GMT -5
Post by Jon on Aug 13, 2013 22:59:38 GMT -5
Anyone read this yet?
Hall of Fame trainer Van Berg discusses biography "Jack: From Grit To Glory
By ANDREW CHAMPAGNE
Saratogian
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Author Chris Kotulak was quick to jokingly chide Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg when asked about the experience he had writing the man’s biography.
“It was a real pain in the butt,” Kotulak said with a smile. “No, a royal pain in the butt.”
The two were in town last week to publicize the new book, “Jack: From Grit To Glory.” Kotulak, the track announcer at Remington Park, said he was approached by Van Berg, a fellow Nebraska native, to write his story.
“I had been writing some stories about the now-closed racetrack in Omaha called Ak-Sar-Ben,” Kotulak explained. “Those stories felt good to write and tell because I was part of them myself.
“When I was still working at TVG, I was reporting that day and I walked to the paddock and up to the front side of the racetrack. Jack was sitting there by the path. We chit-chatted, and of course we knew each other. We were both Nebraska boys. I said, 'Have you read those stories I've been writing about Ak-Sar-Ben?' He didn't even say yes or no, he said, 'I want you to write my book.'”
Kotulak added that the experience of writing the book included going back and forth with Van Berg and his family on certain details. Certain parts were rewritten multiple times, but the book's subject was thrilled with how it came out.
“He did such a tremendous job with research,” Van Berg said of Kotulak. “He came out with things that I didn't even remember.”
Van Berg’s accomplishments speak for themselves. A winner of more than 6,300 career races, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985. His horses won three Triple Crown races, he won nineteen straight training titles at Ak-Sar-Ben from 1959 to 1977, and several of his former assistants, including Hall of Famer Bill Mott, have become world-renowned horsemen themselves.
Van Berg learned much of what he knew from his father Marion, also a Hall of Famer. A large portion of the book is devoted to lessons Jack learned growing up as part of Marion’s operation, which spanned from owning and training thoroughbreds to running a sales ring in Nebraska.
Marion was America’s most victorious owner 14 times and specialized in claiming races in the Midwest. He was the first inductee in the Nebraska Racing Hall of Fame, and his son said he got there with a tremendous work ethic he passed down to his children
“My sister was 13 and they were on the farm fixing fences,” Jack said. “They got on up there a ways and left the truck behind. He told her to go get it. She said, 'I don't know how to drive.' He said, 'You won't learn no younger.' That was one of his greatest sayings. He taught me a work ethic that I thank the Lord every day for.”
The horse most fans of the sport associate with Jack Van Berg is Alysheba, who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 1987 before adding the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 1988. The call of the latter race featured announcer Tom Durkin christening the son of Alydar “America’s horse,” and the trainer remembers just how special the colt was.
“He was just so talented,” Van Berg said. “If they'd have raced Alysheba as a 5-year-old, nobody would've come close to him. He was that talented, and he could do things you just couldn't believe.”
Kotulak hopes those who read the book come away with a new appreciation for Van Berg, who the cover refers to as an American horse racing legend.
“He told me a lot of stories I hadn't heard, some I'd heard bits and pieces of,” he said. “I tried to just let him tell them and listen to what he had to say.
“I hope (readers) will get a connection to the past, some nostalgia. They'll learn about a real live man that was a strict taskmaster, because that's the way he was brought up, but they'll learn about a very benevolent man as well.”
Meanwhile, when asked about how he hopes to be remembered, Van Berg’s response barely mentioned his on-track achievements.
“You can't believe the kids that have come up, that weren't kids anymore, that had worked for me when they were young,” he said. “I've had a lot of them, at book signings, come up and thank me. That is what makes me feel good, what I've done for those people.”
“Jack: From Grit To Glory” is on sale now, and can be purchased through the book’s website and at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
jackfromgrittoglory.com/
Hall of Fame trainer Van Berg discusses biography "Jack: From Grit To Glory
By ANDREW CHAMPAGNE
Saratogian
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Author Chris Kotulak was quick to jokingly chide Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg when asked about the experience he had writing the man’s biography.
“It was a real pain in the butt,” Kotulak said with a smile. “No, a royal pain in the butt.”
The two were in town last week to publicize the new book, “Jack: From Grit To Glory.” Kotulak, the track announcer at Remington Park, said he was approached by Van Berg, a fellow Nebraska native, to write his story.
“I had been writing some stories about the now-closed racetrack in Omaha called Ak-Sar-Ben,” Kotulak explained. “Those stories felt good to write and tell because I was part of them myself.
“When I was still working at TVG, I was reporting that day and I walked to the paddock and up to the front side of the racetrack. Jack was sitting there by the path. We chit-chatted, and of course we knew each other. We were both Nebraska boys. I said, 'Have you read those stories I've been writing about Ak-Sar-Ben?' He didn't even say yes or no, he said, 'I want you to write my book.'”
Kotulak added that the experience of writing the book included going back and forth with Van Berg and his family on certain details. Certain parts were rewritten multiple times, but the book's subject was thrilled with how it came out.
“He did such a tremendous job with research,” Van Berg said of Kotulak. “He came out with things that I didn't even remember.”
Van Berg’s accomplishments speak for themselves. A winner of more than 6,300 career races, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985. His horses won three Triple Crown races, he won nineteen straight training titles at Ak-Sar-Ben from 1959 to 1977, and several of his former assistants, including Hall of Famer Bill Mott, have become world-renowned horsemen themselves.
Van Berg learned much of what he knew from his father Marion, also a Hall of Famer. A large portion of the book is devoted to lessons Jack learned growing up as part of Marion’s operation, which spanned from owning and training thoroughbreds to running a sales ring in Nebraska.
Marion was America’s most victorious owner 14 times and specialized in claiming races in the Midwest. He was the first inductee in the Nebraska Racing Hall of Fame, and his son said he got there with a tremendous work ethic he passed down to his children
“My sister was 13 and they were on the farm fixing fences,” Jack said. “They got on up there a ways and left the truck behind. He told her to go get it. She said, 'I don't know how to drive.' He said, 'You won't learn no younger.' That was one of his greatest sayings. He taught me a work ethic that I thank the Lord every day for.”
The horse most fans of the sport associate with Jack Van Berg is Alysheba, who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 1987 before adding the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 1988. The call of the latter race featured announcer Tom Durkin christening the son of Alydar “America’s horse,” and the trainer remembers just how special the colt was.
“He was just so talented,” Van Berg said. “If they'd have raced Alysheba as a 5-year-old, nobody would've come close to him. He was that talented, and he could do things you just couldn't believe.”
Kotulak hopes those who read the book come away with a new appreciation for Van Berg, who the cover refers to as an American horse racing legend.
“He told me a lot of stories I hadn't heard, some I'd heard bits and pieces of,” he said. “I tried to just let him tell them and listen to what he had to say.
“I hope (readers) will get a connection to the past, some nostalgia. They'll learn about a real live man that was a strict taskmaster, because that's the way he was brought up, but they'll learn about a very benevolent man as well.”
Meanwhile, when asked about how he hopes to be remembered, Van Berg’s response barely mentioned his on-track achievements.
“You can't believe the kids that have come up, that weren't kids anymore, that had worked for me when they were young,” he said. “I've had a lot of them, at book signings, come up and thank me. That is what makes me feel good, what I've done for those people.”
“Jack: From Grit To Glory” is on sale now, and can be purchased through the book’s website and at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
jackfromgrittoglory.com/