Karl Broberg, the owner of one of the most prosperous racing stables in the country, said on Friday that he will no longer be training at the track in order to focus on developing new horses at his farm.

The 53-year-old Broberg will keep owning racehorses, and Abel Ramirez will train those runners. He stated that he will also be acting as a bloodstock agent, locating yearlings for both himself and his clients, in an interview with Daily Racing Form.

The idea is to train those young runners at his farm in Vinton, Louisiana, which is close to Delta Downs. That farm has been Broberg’s breeding farm since he purchased it approximately three years ago. It has an 85-stall barn and a five-furlong training track.

In addition to being quite active in the claiming game, Broberg’s racing operation has long voiced concerns about the decline in the number of horses. He claimed to have started considering making the switch to full-time young horse development in 2020.

“The claiming game at the majority of the tracks that I have historically run at is gone,” he said. “I figured it would be a great time to take a step back, work to buy yearlings, see if we can do some pinhooking, or just help get horses ready for other people. 

“In the next few years, you are going to see so many more fall to the wayside. I just want to make sure I’m ahead of it.” 

Broberg was an owner before he became a trainer and he won his first race as a trainer on Nov. 7, 2009. He would go on to lead North American trainers in wins for six consecutive years from 2014-2019. Broberg also became just the third trainer in history to reach a milestone of 500 wins in a calendar year, behind Steve Asmussen and Scott Lake. 

Broberg said he achieved the goals he set for himself as a trainer when he led his peers in wins in North America. Those numbers were built by winning a slew of training titles across the Southwest, many of them in Louisiana at Delta Downs.  

Broberg also was pleased with how quickly he was able to build his win total. He had 4,902 training victories through Thursday, from 20,984 starts. His trainees have earned $83 million. 

Prior to becoming a trainer, Broberg was an owner. On November 7, 2009, he won his first race as a trainer. From 2014 to 2019, he would go on to top all North American trainers in victories six times in a row. After Steve Asmussen and Scott Lake, Broberg became the third trainer in history to achieve the feat of 500 wins in a calendar year.

When Broberg led his colleagues in victories in North America, he claimed to have accomplished the training goals he had set for himself. Gaining several training titles throughout the Southwest—many of which were earned in Louisiana at Delta Downs—was how those statistics were accumulated.

Now that Broberg has retired, maybe us small guys can win a shake!