MARYLAND’S TOP HORSE TRAINERS:  

GROVER “BUD” DELP AND FERRIS ALLEN

Bormel, Grice & Huyett, P.A. is proud to include as clients many professional athletes over our 30 plus years in business.  Our roster of sports personalities has included athletes from major league baseball, an Olympic Gold Medal winner, horse racing trainers and jockeys who have won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes and others who have participated in diverse endeavors within the sports world.

We are pleased to feature two of our most successful clients within the horse racing industry, who have appeared frequently in the Baltimore and Washington sports pages this year.

A. Ferris Allen III

· Ferris Allen has been training horses since he left a school teaching career on a whim in 1976.  He has been a mainstay on the Maryland Circuit since 1979.

· Ferris was Maryland’s leading trainer in 1999, and early in the year 2000 he surpassed 1,000 career wins.  In addition to his local accomplishments, Ferris has been Virginia’s Colonial Downs leading trainer every year since racing began in Virginia in 1997.

· His best horses have been Miracle Wood, who won over $498,000 including a 5^th place finish in the 1986 Preakness, Passeggiata, winner of the Grade II, Barbara Fritchie and other stars such as Palette Knife, Muskrat Love, Sheaphin, Night Spirit and the current top sprinter, Trounce.

· Ferris has continued his success in 2001 and consistently trains many of the top racehorses in Maryland.  Ferris’ family includes a daughter and son who are very proud of their dad’s accomplishments.

Grover Greer Delp

· Grover G. “Bud” Delp’s  career as a head trainer began in the fall of 1962 at Laurel with 7 horses. By the summer of 1963 at Delaware Park he won his first leading trainer title, and held that crown for ten consecutive years.  In 1964, a fire destroyed his barn at Laurel, 30 horses were lost and only 3 survived. 

· Establishing himself as a trainer of minor stakes horses, Windfields Farm began sending well-bred fillies and Mr. Harry and Mr. Robert Meyerhoff began purchasing yearlings at the Keeneland Fall Sale.  Horses were chosen on the owners’ part by pedigree and the confirmation approval by Mr. Delp.  This has remained a winning combination for the owners for over 30 years.  Harry and Tom Meyerhoff purchased Spectacular Bid in 1977 for $37,000 who became a champion every year he raced, culminating in Eclipse awards for horse and trainer, and a hefty syndication of $22,000,000.· In a career spanning 39 years Mr. Delp has traveled to the winners circle over 3,500 times.  Only nine other trainers in the history of North American Racing have accomplished that feat.  He has won training titles at 11 tracks, six different states.  His victories in graded stakes races include: Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Massachusetts Handicap (twice), Black Eyed Susan (twice), Ashland, Arlington Lassie, Washington Park Handicap, Woodward, NYRA Mile, Ben Ali (twice), John B. Campbell, Hawthorne Gold Cup, Champagne, Kentucky Oaks, Haskell, Santa Anita Handicap, Pimlico Special, New Orleans Handicap, Test, and the Fairgrounds Oaks to name a few.

· What possibly separates Bud Delp from his contemporaries is focus and attention to detail.    Each horse under his care is treated as an individual.  His goal is to find the key that will enable each occupant of a stall to perform their best, regardless of their breeding or value.  Presently, Mr. Delp is enjoying a successful season with “Include”, which is owned by Robert Meyerhoff, and is rated one of the top handicap horses in the country.  Fortunately, for Bud, his family also shares his obsession with the species.  Three sons, one daughter and his wife are extremely proud of his management and success with the horses under his care.