Obituary: Sonnier Trained Stars Nodouble, Meadowlake

Trainer Bert Sonnier, conditioner of two-time champion male Nodouble, died Dec. 26 in Claremont, Calif., according to his daughter Sheila Solis. He was 84.

"Training horses was all he ever knew," Solis said. "I wish he'd been able to continue for a few more years. He loved it and it was every day for him. I remember on Christmas mornings, mom would always be there but dad would be with the horses. That's just the way it was for us."

One of those horses was the durable Nodouble, who won the 1968 Arkansas Derby at 3, the Santa Anita Handicap at 4, and the Metropolitan Handicap at 5.

"He's sound and I can get into him when I train him," Sonnier told BloodHorse after that 1970 Met Mile win at Belmont Park when Nodouble, despite carrying high weight at 126 pounds, prevailed by a head over front-running Reviewer in track-record time of 1:34 3/5. "I can train this horse the way I want to."

A native of Church Point, La., James Bert Sonnier began galloping horses and competing at area bush tracks as a child. He would begin training Thoroughbreds in 1960 in a career that would span more than 40 years. Sonnier's stable would regularly surpass $1 million in purse earnings from 1980 to the mid-1990s.

Arkansas-bred Nodouble would be named champion older male in 1969 and 1970. The classic-placed son of Noholme II would finish as leading sire in 1981.

Nodouble wouldn't be the only standout trained by Sonnier to go onto a successful stallion career as he also conditioned Meadowlake, sire of 1990 champion 2-year-old filly Meadow Star. On the track, Sonnier sent out the undefeated Meadowlake to victory in the 1985 Arlington-Washington Futurity (G1) at Hawthorne Race Course. 

Sonnier won the Arlington-Washington Futurity three times, taking the grade 1 race with Total Departure in 1982 and Execution's Reason in 1979. In 1979 Sonnier swept the big Chicago-area races for juveniles as he also saddled Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes (G2) winner Sissy's Time. 

At 2, Meadowlake impressed Sonnier the most after winning his debut by 22 lengths and taking the Arlington-Washington Futurity by nearly nine lengths.

"At this point Meadowlake is the best horse I've ever had," Sonnier told BloodHorse after that easy stakes score at 6 1/2 furlongs at Hawthorne. "Besides those other Futurity winners, I had Nodouble, you remember, and he won a lot of stakes and was a champion."

In 1993 Sonnier sent out Lunar Spook to win the Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland.

For his career, Sonnier's runners earned slightly more than $23.2 million in purses and posted a 1,531-1,487-1,392 record from 11,859 starts.