Victor J. "Lefty" Nickerson (December 25, 1928 - March 26, 2004) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

 trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

. He embarked on a career as a professional trainer in 1953, working primarily at racetracks in the Northeastern United States

Northeastern United States

The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...

. Late in his career he trained from a base at Santa Anita Park

Santa Anita Park

Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...

 in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

During his career, Lefty Nickerson conditioned Thoroughbreds for owners such as Harbor View Farm, Maxwell Gluck of Elmendorf Farm

Elmendorf Farm

Elmendorf Farm is a Kentucky Thoroughbred horse farm in Fayette County, Kentucky, and has been involved with horse racing since the early 19th century...

, Pam & Martin Wygod

Martin J. Wygod

Martin J. Wygod is an American businessman and a prominent Thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder. A business administration graduate from New York University, he joined a Wall Street stock brokerage firm before becoming a managing partner in a similar firm.In 1964, Wygod became involved with...

, and Sam and Dorothy Rubin of Dotsam Stable

Dotsam Stable

Dotsam Stable was an American Thoroughbred horse racing stable owned by New York City businessman Sam Rubin and his wife Dorothy.Sam Rubin was a successful bicycle importer and a fan of Thoroughbred horse racing. In 1978 he and wife Dorothy paid $25,000 sight unseen for a then three-year-old...

. http://espn.go.com/horse/news/2004/0327/1769940.html For the Rubins, Nickerson trained the great John Henry

John Henry (horse)

John Henry was an American Thoroughbred race horse who had 39 wins, with $6,591,860 in earnings. He was twice voted the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year in 1981 and 1984, with his 1981 selection is the only one whereby the victor received all votes cast for that award. John Henry was also...

 in 1979-1981, notably winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup

Jockey Club Gold Cup

The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the...

, Sword Dancer Handicap

Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap

The Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap is an American race for thoroughbred horses, aged three and up, run annually in mid August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. A prep for the Breeders' Cup Turf, it is set at a distance of one and one-half miles on the turf...

 and Brighton Beach Handicap. A mentor to future National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 inductee, Ron McAnally

Ron McAnally

Ronald L. McAnally is an American Hall of Fame trainer in Thoroughbred horse racing. Called "one of the most honored and respected of North American trainers" by Thoroughbred Times Co., Inc, as a child, he and his four siblings were placed in an orphanage following the death of their mother...

, when the Rubins decided to send the gelding

Gelding

A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...

 to race in California, Nickerson recommended Ron McAnally. However, on John Henry's trips back to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 to race, Nickerson would be the trainer of record.

Of Lefty Nickerson, Ron McAnally said: "Lefty could say one sentence and answer all the things I wondered about all my life. I didn't even have to ask. He just knew what to say all the time. I wanted to learn so badly, and he's such an intelligent guy, and not only as a horseman. I'd never been around anyone like him. He knew so much."

Nickerson suffered a stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

 in 1997 and retired from racing. He died in his sleep at his home in Smithtown, New York

Smithtown, New York

As of the census of 2000, there were 115,715 people, 38,487 households, and 31,482 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,159.9 people per square mile . There were 39,357 housing units at an average density of 734.6 per square mile...

.