Longtime Trainer James E. "Jim" Morgan Dies at 85
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Photo: Courtesy of John C. Engelhardt
James E. "Jim" Morgan (left) and his longtime assistant Dennis Freking
Longtime trainer James E. "Jim" Morgan died Sept. 29 in Dayton, Ohio from a suspected heart attack. He was 85.
A storied collegiate basketball player that was a member of the 1956 NIT-Winning University of Louisville team, Morgan was a schoolteacher after college and then shifted careers to training horses, where he became one of the Midwest's preeminent Thoroughbred trainers by winning over 300 stakes races.
Based primarily in Kentucky and Ohio, he trained Costly Dream who defeated champion Susan's Girl in the 1975 Berlo Handicap at Aqueduct; 1977 Golden Rod Stakes (G3) winner Bold Rendezvous, and 1991 Miller High Life Cradle Stakes (G3) winner Wold Brigade.
In Ohio he dominated the stakes ranks by developing six horse-of-the-year champions in that state. Among these was Brent's Prince, who won the Ohio Derby and went on to be the leading sire in Ohio eight times.
In the later stages of his career, Morgan became president of the Ohio Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and served the role as trustee in the Thoroughbred Horsemen's Health Fund since 1998.
Equibase lists Morgan as having trained 1,993 winners from 10,350 starters with earnings of over $20.7 million over a time period from 1967-2008.