Photo:

Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens, who is wrapping up a two-year contract to train in Saudi Arabia, will return to the U.S. when that agreement expires in two months.

Thoroughbred Daily News reported that Jerkens will train at New York Racing Association tracks.

Jerkens has been successful as a private trainer for Prince Faisal bin Khalid Al Saud with 21 winners and a win rate of 16%, according to the report.

Jerkens said he’s homesick and that his wife, Shirley, had not joined him permanently in Saudi Arabia as planned because she could not find a job and didn’t have anything to do there.

Jerkens left for Saudi Arabia as his career slowed here, with only four wins in 2021 and 10 in 2022, TDN noted. He said he doesn’t have a plan for how he’ll build a stronger stable when he returns.

Jerkens had a successful career in the U.S., but his earnings dropped sharply in 2020 and didn’t recover. After posting six graded-stakes wins in 2019, he had only one each in 2020 and 2021 and none in the U.S. since.