Trainer Don Von Hemel, 88, Set to Retire

Veteran trainer Don Von Hemel will retire May 6, the final day of the 2022-2023 Oaklawn Park meeting, drawing the curtain on a 67-year career that saw him rise to legendary status in Nebraska and become one of the leading trainers in Oaklawn history.  

Von Hemel, 88, was Oaklawn's leading trainer in 1981 and its fifth-winningest trainer of all time with 444 victories through April 23. Momma Mule, among Von Hemel's final career starters, finished seventh in the first race April 28 at Oaklawn.

Oaklawn and the Arkansas division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association will honor Von Hemel in a ceremony following the seventh race April 29, the "Don Von Hemel Classic." Oaklawn and the HBPA are each donating $500 in the name of Von Hemel and his wife Roylynn to the Arkansas Racetrack Chaplaincy.

Von Hemel's retirement has been brewing for several months. He's continued to scale back his operation in recent years because of advancing age and to care for his wife of 63 years, Roylynn, who has Alzheimer's disease. Von Hemel is down to five horses at Oaklawn, all homebreds for country music star Toby Keith's Dream Walkin Farms. Keith is a longtime Von Hemel client.

Von Hemel was dominant during his younger days as a trainer in Nebraska. He won a record seven consecutive training titles (1970-1976) at Fonner Park and captured 10 training titles at Ak-Sar-Ben.

"He's a horseman," said Don Von Hemel's oldest son, trainer Donnie K. Von Hemel. 

A native of tiny Manter, Kan., Don Von Hemel cut his teeth under L.O. "Speck" Lane, a well-known local rancher and horseman, before he began training. Von Hemel saddled his first winner in 1956, according to Equibase, and, like future Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg, eventually became a force on the Nebraska circuit.

"They were very dominant for years and years," Donnie K. said. "Van Berg was leading trainer for a bunch of years in a row (at Ak-Sar-Ben). Dad was the first guy that knocked him off there and then he was leading trainer for several years in a row."

Don Von Hemel won his first race at Oaklawn Feb. 15, 1972, and continued to shift his winter focus to Arkansas throughout the decade. His 444 career victories at Oaklawn include 12 stakes, the last coming in 2012 with Now I Know  in the $50,000 Dixie Belle Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Von Hemel, in partnership, also bred and co-owned the grade 3 winner, who captured six of seven starts.

In addition to his racing achievements, Von Hemel was instrumental in helping launch the highly successful training careers of sons Donnie K. and Kelly.

Donnie K. Von Hemel is the 14th-winningest trainer in Oaklawn history (310 victories through Sunday) and a member of the Remington Park Hall of Fame. He has 2,245 career victories overall (87th in North American all-time leading trainers), the first coming in 1984, according to Equibase. 

"He's a legend, especially for us," said Kelly Von Hemel, who shares Oaklawn's Elocutionist barn with his father.

Don Von Hemel has two victories at the 2022-2023 Oaklawn meeting. His Oaklawn stable is overseen by longtime assistant Wade Hinzman. Donnie K. Von Hemel said he will inherit his father's handful of remaining runners, adding they could go to Churchill Downs or Prairie Meadows after the Oaklawn meeting ends.