Carl Nafzger

LOUISVILLE, KY - MAY 01: Carl Nafzger the trainer of Street Sense is pictured at his barn during the morning training for the 133rd Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1, 2007 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Carl Nafzger trained Street Sense, winner of the 2007 Kentucky Derby. He also trained Unbridled, who won the 1990 Kentucky Derby with jockey Craig Perret.

Nafzger’s Unbridled also won the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 1990, and his now famous Street Sense won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2006.

Before Carl Nafzger began training thoroughbreds, he was a championship rodeo bullrider! He now trains only for James B. Tafel, owner of Street Sense, and for Bentley Smith.

In 1990, Carl Nafzger won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer and the Big Sport of Turfdom Award. In 1998, Nafzger-trained Banshee Breeze won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding 3-Year-Old Filly. In 2008, Nafzger was officially added to the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame.

Other major wins by Carl Nafzger-trained horses include the:

  • Breeders’ Futurity (1980, 1986)
  • Arlington Classic (1981)
  • Washington Park Handicap (1985)
  • Alcibiades Stakes (1986, 2002)
  • Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (1989)
  • Florida Derby (1990)
  • Lexington Stakes (1990, 2000)
  • Secretariat Stakes (1990)
  • Super Derby (1990)
  • Alabama Stakes (1998)
  • Bonnie Miss Stakes (1998)
  • Coaching Club American Oaks (1998)
  • Spinster Stakes (1998)
  • Apple Blossom Handicap (1999)
  • Go For Wand Handicap (1999)
  • Travers Stakes (2000)
  • Commonwealth Breeders’ Cup Stakes (2001)
  • Stonerside Beaumont Stakes (2003)
  • Tampa Bay Derby (2007)

Start considering your favourites for the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby in 2009!