Trainer Van Berg Faces Suspension

Jack Van Berg, a Hall of Fame trainer who has won more than 6,300 races, including the 1987 Kentucky Derby with Alysheba, was notified Saturday by the Santa Anita stewards that his license will be suspended on March 12 because of financial problems.

Ingrid Fermin, one of the stewards, said that Van Berg owes a veterinarian “quite a bit of money.” Fermin wouldn’t specify the amount, but said that it was in the five-figure range.

Van Berg, 65, was given a hearing by the stewards last summer at Del Mar over the same debt and at one point was ordered to make a $34,000 partial payment before he could be reinstated. Saturday’s ruling said that Van Berg would be “denied access to all premises” during the suspension.

Van Berg declined comment about the suspension. His son Tim saddled two horses that ran Saturday.

Van Berg was voted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1985, 15 years after his father, Marion, was enshrined. Operating in the Midwest with a huge stable, Van Berg won 496 races in 1976, still a record. Alysheba, who won the Preakness and then missed the Triple Crown sweep when he finished fourth in the Belmont Stakes, came back in 1988 to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic and was voted horse of the year. Van Berg won his first Preakness with Gate Dancer in 1984. Alysheba earned $6.6 million, once the North American record, but now he ranks sixth on the money list.

Van Berg won 22 races with 226 starters last year. This season at Santa Anita he has won four races.

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Bill Christine