Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Broberg seeks to end year with major win milestone
The countdown is on for Karl Broberg.
With a month of racing left in 2018, he has a chance to become just the third trainer in history to win 500 or more races in a calendar year in North America. Steve Asmussen, who has four 500-win-plus seasons, first accomplished the feat in 2004 and Scott Lake followed in 2006.
Broberg had 466 wins through Tuesday. For the final weeks of the year he will be racing at Delta Downs, Remington Park, and Fair Grounds.
Broberg already is poised to lead all trainers in North America in wins for the fifth year in a row. Through Tuesday, he had a 100-win advantage in the 2018 standings, according to Equibase.
This has been Broberg’s best year on the track.
The 47-year-old, who began training in earnest in 2010 after a few starts in 2009, has never won more races in a calendar year – or more titles. He was the leading trainer this spring at Delta and also won 2018 titles at Evangeline Downs, Louisiana Downs, Lone Star Park, Prairie Meadows, and Retama Park. Broberg’s stable has also earned more than ever before, with $7,303,174 through Tuesday, good for 10th in the North American standings.
“I knew on Breeders’ Cup Day we’d get pushed out of the top 10 in earnings,” he said. “However, momentarily, we’ve crawled back in there. That would be a first for me. A lot of pride goes along with that.”
Broberg – who has a $98,043 lead over the 11th-ranked Bill Mott – primarily operates a claiming operation, but the face of his barn is starting to change some. He’s been more active with 2-year-olds this year – winning stakes with Wakefield and Shotsoft – and also will have a larger presence next month at Oaklawn Park.
“For the longest time I was just thinking if we continue to win and do everything right, that the quality will follow,” Broberg said. “I’m learning that’s not necessarily the case. We’re going to have to push outside of our sweet spot in an effort to make that happen.
“To be at the tougher tracks, you obviously have to have owner support. An unrealistic dream I always have is New York because it was my favorite spot as a player. I loved betting the New York tracks. I don’t know if it will ever become a reality, but it’s in the back of my mind.”
Broberg, a Chicago native, was a horseplayer before he became a horse trainer. He saddled his first winner on Nov. 7, 2009, at Retama, and had 2,897 career wins through Tuesday. His stable earnings are more than $43 million.
“I actually first got into racing as a horseplayer at a young age,” Broberg said. “I was playing the horses regularly from the day I turned 18. Oklahoma had just gone parimutuel at that time, so I was playing Blue Ribbon Downs, Will Rogers Downs, Remington Park, and Fair Meadows, and often they were running two racetracks a day and I still was able to make it to both tracks. It just became my life.”
But things changed after the birth of his first child and the responsibilities of fatherhood. Broberg began working for QuikTrip, a privately held company based in Tulsa, Okla., that operates gas stations and convenience stores.
“I started doing the 9-to-5 thing,” Broberg said. “I worked with QuikTrip for quite a few years and came and opened the first store in North Texas. I left them and decided I wanted to pursue a career in racing. I became a groom for a while in an effort to learn the trade. I actually worked for one of my current owners, Greg Frye, who was a trainer at the time. I enjoyed it immensely, but still came back to the fact that this is not something that’s going to support a family.”
Broberg opened a specialty advertising business, End Zone Athletics, and in time that afforded him the opportunity to own racehorses. He sent them to trainer John Locke.
“I was the worst owner because I literally never left the barn,” Broberg said. “So, he finally put me to work. So, here I am, paying my trainer bill and working for free. I learned so much from him. Once he started talking about retirement, I made a play to purchase his assets and pitched myself to the owners he had at the time.”
It gave Broberg a larger-thannormal foundation to build from, and he made an immediate impact in the win column.
Now, less than a decade into his training career, he finds himself on the precipice of joining an elite club.