Edited Press Release from Oaklawn ParkTrainer William H. 'Jinks' Fires will saddle his final runner in a career that has spanned 50 years when House Trick contests the second race at Oaklawn Park on Friday afternoon.According to Equibase statistics, Fires, the older brother of Hall of Fame jockey Earlie Fires, has sent out 1,502 winners from 11,400 runners. Arguably the best horse Fires trained was Archarcharch (Arch), who won the GIII Southwest Stakes and GI Arkansas Derby en route to an appearance in the 2011 GI Kentucky Derby.Among the most successful trainers in the history of Oaklawn Park, Fires told the Oaklawn media office that he is retiring to care for his wife of 48 years, Penny, who has Parkinson's disease.“I've got to stop,” Fires said from his office in Susan's Girl, the trainer's longtime Oaklawn barn. “She's not doing good. I'm not ready to stop, but I have to.”As recently as 2023, there were four octogenaraian trainers on the Oaklawn backstretch–Don Von Hemel, David Vance and Hall of Famer Wayne Lukas–each of whom retired in the last three years. Lukas passed away roughly a week after announcing his retirement last June.“If you're broken down on the side of the road, the one person you want to see coming is Jinks because he'll stop and help you,” Arkansas Racing Commission chairman Alex Lieblong said. “That pretty well sums him up. He's always been a gentleman in everything we've ever done.”A native of tiny Rivervale in northeastern Arkansas, Fires's aptitude as a teenage bull rider in regional rodeos led to a career in Thoroughgbred racing. He was discovered by Joseph Hanover, an attorney from Memphis, Tennessee, who bred and raced Thoroughbreds.“He saw how small I was,” Fires said. “He wanted me to break his horses, yearlings.”Fires came to Oaklawn in 1959, where he first intended to work as a freelance exercise rider. Instead, he initially became a hotwalker for Lyle Whiting, the father of one-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Lynn Whiting. Fires then galloped horses for Frank Kirby and won his first race as a jockey in 1960 at La Mesa Park.Fires said he was too heavy to continue his riding career, was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1963 and returned to training following his discharge in 1965.“Actually, my brother Bucky and I had bought a couple of weanlings,” Fires said. “When I got out of the Army, he took one of them and I took the other one and I went to Chicago galloping horses for people. I was galloping and had one horse on my own to train. Wound up taking my trainer's test and passed it.”Fires recorded the first of his victories as a trainer with Hidden Pocket on Apr. 22, 1967, at Sportsman's Park just outside the Chicago city limits. His first winner at Oaklawn Park came in early 1969, but he suffered the loss of his 15-horse stable in a barn fire at Chicago's Washington Park in 1970.After some time away working as an exercise rider and assistant to trainer Harold 'Baldy' Tinker and three-time Oaklawn champion Doug Davis, Jr., Fires returned to training horses and became a fixture on the Kentucky/Arkansas circuit beginning in 1976. His early clients included Arkansas owner/breeders Gus and Patricia Blass, who won the 1973 Travers with the Davis-trainer Annihilate'em, a horse Fires once galloped.Fires was the first trainer employed by Lieblong and his wife JoAnn, who entered Thoroughbred ownership in the early 1990s as partners with the Blasses.“Jinks has got a hell of an eye for a fast horse,” said Alex Lieblong, a prominent Arkansas businessman. “He got two of the fastest horses I ever had. One horse was called Mi Buddy and the other was Firststatedeposit. Hell, Firststatedeposit cost $42,000 and Mi Buddy was ($17,000). He's got a very good eye, but the other thing is he's extremely honest. Like I say, if you're broken down, that's one fellow you keep crossing your fingers for and hope he was coming by.”Archarcharch was sent off at 12-1 in the 2011 Derby won by Animal Kingdom, but came out of the race with a career-ending injury. He was the first and only Kentucky Derby starter for Fires.“I've had a good career,” said Fires, who still rides his pony each morning during training hours. “I'm not ready to stop, but I have to because of my wife. My health has been real good, so I'm not worried about that. That's not a problem.”He retires as the fourth-winningest trainer in Oaklawn history with 480 wins, 30 in stakes. He recorded at least one victory at Oaklawn Park for 47 consecutive seasons, from 1997 through the 2022-2023 meet.In recognition of his career achievements, the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association honored Fires as an “HBPA Living Legend” during its annual conference Mar. 3-7 at Oaklawn.“I just adore him,” jockey Kelsi Harr, an Arkansas native and Oaklawn regular, said several years ago. “He's an awesome horseman. He's a legend.”Fires said that his six or so remaining horses will be turned out, sold or sent to trainers Randy Morse and Scott Young. Fires and his wife reside on a five-acre farm not far from Oaklawn.“I've got a lot of fence building out there at my place to do, so I know that will keep me pretty busy,” Fires said. “I'll miss training. I've got one filly that I entered eight times here and did not get a race to go for her. Finally, she started going a little funny, so I just took her home and I'm going to breed her. I don't want to stay in the business, but I guess I'll have to stay in the business if I don't sell her.”The post Trainer ‘Jinks’ Fires To Call It a Career appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.