Art Sherman

Art Sherman (born February 17, 1937 ) is a former American horse trainer and jockey. At the age of 77 he became the oldest trainer to win the Kentucky Derby. He began his career as a stable hand for Rex Ellsworth and Mesh Tenney. While working in Ellsworth's barn, he was the exercise rider for the 1955 Kentucky Derby winner Swaps and 1956 Kentucky Derby entrant Terrang.

In 1957, Sherman became a licensed jockey, enjoying modest success, and began training horses in 1979. Sherman had trained ten Graded stakes winners and is credited with over 2,100 wins prior to becoming the trainer of California Chrome. He was hired to train California Chrome in 2013, due to his "old school" training techniques. Prior to the 2014 Kentucky Derby, he had conditioned the horse through four consecutive wins, and California Chrome entered the Derby as the favorite and won. Two weeks later, California Chrome also won the 2014 Preakness Stakes. Sherman is married and has two sons, Alan and Steve, both in the horse training business.

Early life Art Sherman was born in Brooklyn, New York, and is Jewish. At the age of seven, his family moved to California. Sherman became interested in horse racing while working at his father's barber shop when a customer, noticing Sherman was only , suggested Sherman become a jockey.

At age 17, Sherman got a job as stable hand on Rex Ellsworth's ranch. From Ellsworth and trainer Mesh Tenney, he learned to care for, ride, and breed horses. His first win was at Hollywood Park. After riding for over 21 years, he retired from riding as a jockey and began training horses.

Personal life Sherman met his wife, Faye, on a blind date while riding in Chicago. Faye was working for the Illinois Central Railroad at the time, and at first found Sherman's work to be "the most boring thing that's ever been done". Prior to 2014, Sherman had 10 graded stakes winners, some of whom, trained in conjunction with his son Alan, were Grade 1 stakes winners. , his stable is located at Los Alamitos Race Course in Orange County, California.

Jockey Victor Espinoza held California Chrome behind the front-runners in the early part of the race, before making his move on the final turn. California Chrome pulled away from the field, just as Sherman had envisioned it, winning the Derby by 1 3/4 lengths. The win made the 77-year-old Sherman the oldest trainer to win the Kentucky Derby in the history of the race. Previously, Charlie Whittingham held the record, training Sunday Silence to win the 1989 Kentucky Derby at age 76. He said the win was unlikely to change him because he had "been around a long time" already and added "I'm just the same old Art Sherman, you know – except, I won the Kentucky Derby."

Personal life

Art Sherman's assistant is his son, Alan, who is also a licensed trainer. Alan was a jockey for three years in the 1980s until, as he put it, "I ate my way out of that job." As a jockey, he rode in southern California for trainers such as Charlie Whittingham and won over a million dollars in purse money, while closely observing how his employers trained their horses, anticipating that some day he too would become a trainer. Rather than run an independent training stable like his brother Steve, Alan has worked with his father since 1991. He did most of the hands-on day-to-day work with California Chrome and stayed with him throughout his Triple Crown travels when Art returned to California to oversee the rest of the stable.