NEWS
Bloodstock consultant Werk dies
Posted: Monday, February 15, 2010 7:09 PM
by Jeff Lowe
Jack Werk, a longtime bloodstock consultant who developed the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks online mating and stallion promotion service, died on Sunday after a bout with cancer. He was 65.
Werk Thoroughbred Consultants Inc., founded by Jack Werk in 1987, recommended the matings that produced 1998 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Real Quiet and current Triple Crown hopefuls Lookin At Lucky and Conveyance.
“Jack really developed the first commercial nicking service, a service that became widely available to people,” said Sid Fernando, a fellow bloodstock consultant who will help continue the service. “He was able to incorporate technology into the horse racing business with the product. We were all headed toward technology and he was a little bit ahead of everyone else. He had eNicks as a concept before most people knew what e-commerce was. His products started to get copied quite a bit. He was a real innovator with that and as a private consultant.”
Following Real Quiet’s exploits in the 1998 Triple Crown, Werk recalled that he sent eight recommendations to breeder Eduardo Gaviria for selecting a sire for broodmare Really Blue, by Believe It. Gaviria went with Werk’s top choice, Quiet American.
“The result of that recommendation was Real Quiet, who went on to win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and come within a whisker of becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 20 years,” Werk said. “As Eduardo and I stood in the Churchill Downs winner's circle with tears in our eyes and the blanket of roses was being placed on the back of Real Quiet, Eduardo put his arm around me, and the words he said to me will be with me for the rest of my life. ‘Jack, without you, there would be no Real Quiet.’
“When I started Werk Thoroughbred Consultants in 1987, my dream was to participate in a mating that would produce a Kentucky Derby winner. Little did I know that the letter sent by Eduardo Gaviria in 1994 requesting stallion recommendations for Really Blue would take me far beyond my highest dreams.”
A memorial service will be held for Werk in Fremont, California, on a date to be determined. For information, contact Werk Thoroughbred Consultants at (510) 490-1111 or wtc@werkhorse.com.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
