Robert and Sheila Fetkin pose with The Chosen Vron’s Horse of the Year trophy at the banquet And then, there’s racing. A
In late 2024, horse owner Robert Fetkin caught a couple of bad breaks.
On Sept. 26, he and his wife Sheila’s ocean-front dream home in St. Petersburg on the Florida coast was severely damaged by Hurricane Helene. Less than a month later, his dual grade 1 winner The Chosen Vron—perhaps the best sprinter in the country—was placed on the veterinarian’s restricted list due to concerns about his front fetlocks and ruled out of the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar.
Seven-year-old The Chosen Vron, of which Fetkin was co-breeder and owner as part of the Tiz Molly broodmare partnership, would never run again. The California-bred chestnut gelding by Vronsky was recently retired due to his ankle problems. Fetkin’s home, six months into the re-building phase, is still under construction.
Yet he has taken it all in stride.
“I’m pretty resilient,” the buoyant 66-year-old restaurateur said. “I’m a person who always looks at the bright side of things.”
The career The Chosen Vron had “was beyond my wildest dreams,” Fetkin noted, pointing to his accomplishments. The gelding won an amazing 19 times from 25 lifetime starts, 18 of those victories in stakes events, including back-to-back renewals of Del Mar’s grade 1 Bing Crosby. The two-time Cal-bred Horse of the Year earned more than $1.7 million.
“He’s by far the best horse I’ve ever been a part of,” Fetkin said. “I’ve said it many times before, but he’s given me the ride of a lifetime.”
Fetkin said he hoped that The Chosen Vron’s injuries would heal with rest and therapy and he would be able to return to competition. But the most recent MRI showing no improvement convinced him and his partners, including trainer Eric Kruljac, that their star’s racing days were over.
“It’s the right thing to do for ‘Vron.’ Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end,” Fetkin said. “He will forever be my favorite horse. He deserves to roll around in the grass and enjoy his well-deserved retirement.”
As for his home, which the Fetkins have owned since relocating from Temecula in 2017, the hurricane made him realize that it was time to move on. The likelihood of further such climate-related disasters was part of the decision, he said, but more important was their lifestyle changes in semiretirement.
“We’re just traveling more,” he said. “We have family on both coasts; we want to spend more time with them.” He plans to rent out and eventually sell the house once the renovation is complete.
I think that partnerships give you a chance to cast a wider net. Also, we’ve made a lot of friends.” —Robert Fetkin
And then, there’s racing. A big believer in partnerships, Fetkin said he has a percent-age in about 50 horses right now. He has been a fan since he was about 12 when grow-ing up near Detroit. He had an aunt who often took him to old Detroit Race Course in nearby Livonia.
“I never had more than a few dollars in my pocket back then, but I always loved that I could go home with more,” he said.
The fast-food business has been good to Fetkin. Living in San Diego, he began buying into Arby’s restaurant franchises as a young entrepreneur, and at its height, he said he owned about 70 in California. He began selling off those assets about 10 years ago but remains in the restaurant business on a smaller scale while also involved in commercial real estate management.
Fetkin began in racing by claiming a few horses with trainer Paul Aguirre in the early 1990s. Like many aspiring owners, he had bigger dreams.
“When I first started, I said I wanted to go to the Kentucky Derby,” he said. “Then I said if I go there, I want to run in it. And then if we run, I would like to win it.”
His association with Class Racing Stable, headed by Joe Masino, led him to the filly Tiz Molly. Fetkin, speaking at the recent California Thoroughbred Breeders Association awards banquet in which Tiz Molly was awarded Broodmare of the Year, said he remembers her first race in 2013. After a slow start, he said, “she came flying late to win by a head” at odds of 24-1.
“And I thought we had the next Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner there,” he added.
The Fetkins have enjoyed California-bred The Chosen Vron, who has given them “the ride of a lifetime”
When injuries ended Tiz Molly’s racing career about 16 months later, Fetkin joined the Tiz Molly Partners, who bought her and bred The Chosen Vron. They also have two foals out of Tiz Molly by noted California sire Clubhouse Ride (Clubhouse Cutie and Goodgollytizmolly), with a third on the way, Fetkin said.
Fetkin, as part of Ten Strike Racing, is excited about the prospects of 4-year-old Into Mischief filly Almostgone Rocket, also owned by Frank Fletcher Racing Operations.
The Kentucky-bred Almostgone Rocket won all three of her starts in 2024 by a combined 22 lengths, including the listed Jersey Girl Stakes at Saratoga by six lengths in June. She was expected to make her first start of the year for trainer Brad Cox in the $250,000 Matron Stakes at Oaklawn Park March 29.
Fetkin’s Derby dream? The closest he has come so far is also with Ten Strike Racing, part owner of Loggins, who sustained a suspensory injury that ended his career in 2022 after just two races. Following an eight-length debut win at Churchill Downs, the Cox-trained son of Ghostzapper went off favored in the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland and lost by a neck to eventual juvenile champion Forte.
But Fetkin continues to dream. He’s become affiliated with another partnership group, Fletcher’s Small Batch Thoroughbreds, which formed an offshoot of about 10 owners last year named SBT Holy Grail.
“I rely a lot on Fletch,” Fetkin said. “He has the best eye for young horses I’ve seen.”
He added, “Our goal is to get to the Kentucky Derby. We have three colts we bought as yearlings last year, and we’re targeting the ’26 Derby.
“I think that partnerships give you a chance to cast a wider net,” Fetkin explained. “It gives you more action all the time. A lot of people are doing that now. You have a better chance of getting a nice stakes horse and you mitigate the risk. Also, we’ve made a lot of friends.”