Successful trainer across the board

Clark County resident Jim Fergason figures he is closing in on 1,000 wins in his 39-year career as a trainer. (STEVEN LANE/The Columbian)

PORTLAND — The way Jim Fergason figures it, if he hadn’t wound up in the horse game, he’d probably be a mill worker in Cottage Grove, Ore.

“I wouldn’t want to think about it,” he said.

For four decades, he hasn’t had to think about it.

The 62nd horse racing season at Portland Meadows begins today. It will be the 39th consecutive year that Fergason has been there.

The 56-year-old Clark County-based trainer is more than a fixture at the north Portland race track. He is one of Portland Meadows most successful trainers.

Fergason-trained horses posted the most wins at Portland Meadows for five years running until the 2007-08 meet, when Jonathan Nance set a single-season record for wins with 80. The previous season, Fergason established a track record with 78 wins in a meet.

“I attribute (the success) to having good owners with a lot of confidence in how I run my horses,” Fergason said.

The numbers breed confidence. Fergason, who has part ownership in some of the horses he trains, finished second last winter behind Nance, winning 60 times at Portland Meadows. Though he doesn’t have the official number, Fergason figures he is closing in on his 1,000th career win as a trainer.

Ray Fergason, Jim’s father, trained race horses as a hobby during the 1960s, and Jim first traveled to Portland Meadows with his father in 1968.

In 1970, Jim began training on his own, and in 1977 bought his Orchards-area farm.

In addition to being a fixture at Portland Meadows, Fergason has run horses at Emerald Downs near Seattle and in Denver. For several years he has been sending horses to Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where his horses posted 21 wins in 107 starts this summer.

He said he never aspired to try his luck at major tracks in California or back East, preferring to stay close to his family. He has three grown children and six grandchildren.

Training race horses is more than a livelihood, it’s a way of life. During the run-up to today’s meet opener, Fergason was at the track at 5:30 a.m. each day. The track opens at 7 a.m. for training. By late morning, he is heading back to his Orchards farm to work with horses there. In the evening, he returns to Portland Meadows to feed and check on the horses.

“I’m blessed every day I do this job,” Fergason said. “It seems like I’ve worked every day, but I feel like I haven’t worked a day in my life.”

The competition continues to motivate Fergason.

“Winning a horse race is a thrill that never gets old,” he said.

Among the horses that enter this Portland meet with a chance to thrill Fergason are Sam Angelo, One Quick Brew, Jimmy the Grouch, and Silver Patrona.

Sam Angelo won twice last year including an invitational handicap race. Jimmy the Grouch is undefeated and won last year’s Bill Wineberg Stakes, a prestigious race for 2-year-olds. Silver Patrona has won four stakes races at Portland Meadows. One Quick Brew won last year’s Oregon Derby, Meadows’ most prestigious race for 3-year-olds.

Geri Johnson of St. Helens, Ore., a horse breeder and owner who, along with her late husband, has worked with Fergason for more than 15 years, said Fergason’s strength as a trainer include his integrity and concern for the well-being of each horse.

“He has a terrific memory,” she said. “He knows what every horse does, and treats them all as individuals. He never runs any of our horses if they are a little bit sore or a little bit off.”

Trainers are not miracle workers, Fergason said.

“When you claim a horse, you better plan on just getting them to run as fast as they run when you claim them,” he said.

Maximizing the potential of a horse starts with proper feeding and care, includes the right exercise program, and requires putting the horse in the races in which they are well suited and have a chance for success.

“Horse racing is all about timing,” Fergason said. “They’re just an athlete. They go up and down just like other athletes. They’re not a machine.”

Therein lies the challenge that has kept Fergason in the racing game for four decades.

“It’s the competition,” Fergason said. “I’ve always been competitive, and, of course, it’s a love of horses.”

Portland Meadows has seen its ups and downs over the years. The industry has seen betting decline in part because of the growth of state lotteries and casinos. Smaller meets in Cottage Grove, Yakima, and Salem have disappeared in recent years, but Portland Meadows has persevered.

“Portland, for some reason, always seems to pull through,” he said, citing among the factors a large community of horse people in the area, especially in Clark County.
“Racing is still enjoyable here, and still profitable. And the attitude is great here.”

In fact, purses have improved recently, thanks to Portland Meadows races being simulcast in several major markets around the country.

Fergason, who serves as president of the Oregon Horsemen’s Benevolence and Protective Association, is well-versed in the challenges facing his sport and his home track. But he expects to be chasing the thrill of victory at Portland Meadows for years to come. He can’t imagine anything else.

“Horse trainers don’t retire,” Fergason said. “If I retired, I’d retire and become a horse trainer.”