Read online here: By Emily Shields Irish native finds his racing dream in the Golden State Ireland native Francis O’Leary was always interested in racing back home, but a move to California in 2008 made the dream of owning racehorses and broodmares possible. Now O’Leary has expanded his reach to include co-ownership in a stallion, Gig Harbor. The first horse O’Leary ever claimed was Hava Java, a 4-year-old California-bred daughter of Speed Dial who won on the day by five lengths at Golden Gate Fields. O’Leary, who had been attending the races regularly that season before he made the plunge into ownership, took her for $5,000 from trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and turned her over to trainer William Morey. Hava Java won three times for her new connections before she was claimed away just about four months later. That experience got the ball rolling for O’Leary, who has owned a host of horses either solo or in partnership. “I got into the breeding side shortly after,” he said. The man who... ...

  By Emily Shields After 20 years in the Quarter Horse business, Dar Hanson has made the seamless transition to Thoroughbreds. He is enjoying a modicum of success thanks to a recent $100,000 California-bred filly sold at the Fasig-Tipton July yearling sale. More prosperity could be on the way, as Hanson has another set to go in the inaugural Fasig-Tipton California fall yearling sale Sept. 26. But long before he was sales prepping and selling Thoroughbreds, Hanson was managing Ward River Ranch, one of the country’s premier cutting horse breeding farms. “I’ve been in the horse business my whole adult life,” Hanson said. “I was an apprentice farrier and met some people and started training cutting horses. I did that for a few years. Ward River Ranch was the leading breeder of cowhorses in the country, and the largest cowhorse breeding farm on the West Coast. They sold it back in 2013, and I’ve leased it from the new owners.” Now called Hanson’s River Ranch, the 60-acre spread in Kingsburg,... ...

Read online: BY EMILY SHIELDS California breeding finds just the right Nishes Kevin and Kimberly Nish would have every reason to think the game of horse racing is easy, but they aren’t fooled. Just because they found their way to the Breeders’ Cup winner’s circle a mere 15 months after getting into the game doesn’t mean they aren’t aware of the struggles involved with breeding top Thoroughbreds. They’re also clear that their journey sounds like a fairytale. “We started quick and went straight up to the top of the mountain, basically,” Kim said. That’s where they are working to stay. The couple met working at Kimber Insurance in 1985 and were married two years later. Kevin recalls being a racing fan and bettor while in college during the 1970s, but realized relatively recently that “if I wanted to own a racehorse, I could.” They found the website for Victory Rose Thoroughbreds in Vacaville and met owner Ellen Jackson. “We bought small percentages in a couple of horses Ellen had,” Kevin... ...

Read online:  SPICED PERFECTION WINS GRADE 1 AT KEENELAND By Emily Shields A field of sprint stars—including a reigning Breeders’ Cup champion—wasn’t enough to stop Spiced Perfection from winning her second grade 1 race, the $300,000 Madison Stakes at Keeneland April 6. The gutsy California-bred filly dueled with pacesetter Amy’s Challenge throughout, and the two of them threw down the gauntlet in the lane, with Spiced Perfection edging ahead, Amy’s Challenge coming back to put her nose in front, and Spiced Perfection finally, resolutely turning her away at the wire. Behind them, by 63⁄4 lengths, toiled the likes of six-time stakes winner Late Night Pow Wow in third and 2018 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) winner Shamrock Rose, who ran fifth. The speed and grit Spiced Perfection showed are now becoming synonymous with her sire, Smiling Tiger, who stands at Harris Farms in Coalinga. A multiple grade 1-winning sprinter, Smiling Tiger now has four champions to his name in just two crops to race. Philip Lebherz and Alan Klein’s Smiling... ...

Read online:    By Emily Shields Adrian Gonzalez abided by the “fake it until you make it” school of thought, and ultimately made it. Having been accepted to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Gonzalez needed a job to help put himself through school. He had grown up around horses, but not Thoroughbreds. “I stumbled upon Cardif Stud Farm,” he said. “My very first experience there was as an exercise rider, breaking yearlings.” Within a year Gonzalez was working as a stallion groom at Creston Farms, then helped handle weanlings. “I hadn’t done any of that,” Gonzalez admitted. “I thought, ‘fake it until you make it.’ ” During that year the studious Gonzalez not only saw several different facets of the industry, but also spent time perusing The Blood-Horse’s annual auction results book. “Not to date myself, but there weren’t a lot of sales results online at the time,” he said. “The farm had a library with all the old stallion registers, and I was taking the auction... ...

Read online:  By Emily Shields When Stephanie Wedge first met trainer Jef Bonde in 2013, she didn’t know a furlong from a farrier. After marrying Bonde, helping manage her husband’s business, and buying racehorses of her own, Wedge-Bonde is now well on her way to mastering the once incomprehensible racing jargon. A full-time real estate agent from Northern California, Wedge-Bonde was taking in the races at Pleasanton when she met the trainer. “I thought all horses were Kentucky Derby horses when I first met him,” she said. “I was the most novice of novices.” The ambitious Wedge-Bonde decided the best way to learn was to jump in with both feet. She invested in Lady Wedge, a $16,500 purchase who went on to earn $34,315. “When she doubled the money, I was hooked,” Wedge-Bonde said. Another driving factor was that at the time, Bonde was training a filly named She’s a Tiger, one of the leading juveniles of 2013. She’s a Tiger won the Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1) and ran... ...

Read online:  By Emily Shields A childhood spent at the racetrack can often develop into a lifelong passion for the game. That is certainly true of Clint Roberts, whose father gave him a taste of the ownership side of the industry years ago. At first Roberts looked poised to pursue that path, until he bought into California sire Lakerville. Now he is fully entrenched in the breeding business. Roberts remembers spending a day a month at the races as a kid. “My dad always wanted to own horses and usually had one on the track,” he said. “It was in my blood.” Some of the horses that Clint’s father, Tom, campaigned include Speaking of Time, a multiple graded stakes-placed stakes winner of $394,976, and grade 1 winner Famous Digger, who was claimed for $40,000 in 1997 and went on to win the Del Mar Oaks (G1T). Barry Abrams, who has a special place in the Clint Roberts story, trained both horses. “My dad’s horses were trained by Roger Stein,” Roberts... ...

Read online:  By Emily Shields Lennie Recabaren was honored in the winner’s circle at Del Mar Nov. 30, with the ceremony balanced between festive birthday party–Recabaren had just turned 98–and lifetime achievement award. He has been a member of theDel Mar Turf Club for 57 years and was even present on the track’s opening day in 1937. In the interim Recabaren has owned thoroughbreds, loved deeply, and helped shape San Diego as it is known today. “My whole family was in racing,” Recabaren explained, noting that his Peruvian grandfather used to have Arabian race horses. “My mother got me interested in racing when I was quite small.” Recabaren was working as a laborer for Paramount Pictures when he and some other workers heard about a new track opening down south, and that they could take the train. He remembers the experience like it was yesterday. Recabaren was working as a laborer for Paramount Pictures when he and some other workers heard about a new track opening down south, and that... ...

Read online: By Emily Shields, California Thoroughbred Cathy and Paul Schroeder have discovered one truism in horse ownership: Horses tend to multiply, whether planned or not. “Sometimes we buy them, but sometimes they come to us because they may have gotten injured and couldn’t race anymore,” Paul said. “On three different occasions we’ve just been given a mare.” Their small operation has grown to some 35 horses, with six mares in foal for 2019. “We do have a good reputation for taking good care of our horses,” Paul added. “It’s very important for us to find them second homes when their racing days are over.” The Schroeders were introduced to racing via their daughter, Anne, who was a champion equestrian as a teenager schooling with Amy Hess. The former wife of Thoroughbred trainer Bob Hess was an infuence in the Schroeders’ lives, ultimately leading them to meet Hess on the track. “At the time, Bob was offering a thing during a Del Mar summer meet called Frisky Fillies,” said Cathy.... ...

Read online: By Emily Shields John and Allegra Ernst, owner/breeders of California-bred stakes winner Tap the Wire, tell the story of their introduction to horse racing with palpable enthusiasm. “We live only 10 minutes from Del Mar, and we had always loved animals and sports,” John began. “We started going over there in the morning to see the horses work,” Allegra continued. “It’s the best show in town.” From there the Ernsts met outrider Tom Ellis and peppered him with questions for several seasons. One rare time, Ellis didn’t know the answer and enlisted the help of trainer Dan Hendricks. By the end of the day, Hendricks had given the Ernsts a tour of his barn, answered more questions, and planted the first seeds that later led them to become owners. “We were saving money for a second house,” Allegra said, “but we never found that house. A year later we returned to Del Mar and there’s Tom and Dan out in the morning. Next thing you know John and... ...

Click below to read the full story By Emily Shields Longtime horse people Pam Christopherson and her husband, Neal, have produced a steady parade of classy runners. Their Bar C Racing Stables is responsible for horses such as Music of My Soul, Noosito, Del Rio Harbor, and Mach One Rules, thanks largely in part to their standout stallion Harbor the Gold. Now they’ve made a splash in the sales ring as breeders of a California-bred that topped the 2018 Barretts spring sale at $600,000. The Christophersons had been training in the Pacific Northwest region for 30 years when they bought Harbor the Gold as a 4-year-old. The well-bred son of Seeking the Gold—Harbor Springs, by Vice Regent, was a winning half brother to Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) hero Boston Harbor for breeder Overbrook Farm. Harbor the Gold had recently retired from the track when the Christophersons purchased him. “Then we ended up breed- ing mares instead of running horses,” Pam explained. “We bought him when he was 4, and now... ...

Read the full story in our magazine online: By Emily Shields Madeline and Harris Auerbach know that racing can be a cyclical game. You can be lucky enough to get a sprinkling of stakes wins, followed by a lengthy drought. You could also have a hand in two graded stakes wins just 10 days apart. For the Auerbachs, all these things have happened, with the latter extreme coming via California-breds from Nov. 23 through Dec. 3. The Auerbach-bred and -sold How Unusual won the Red Carpet Handicap (G3T) on Thanksgiving, and then homebred Majestic Heat took the Bayakoa Stakes (G2). These victories came at the tail end of a tough year for the well-known California breeders, who lost their foundation stallion, Unusual Heat, in May. But for Madeline, patience has always been the most important part of the game. “When you’ve been doing it as long as we have,” she said, “it’s very validating because you know you’re doing things right. This business is an infinite test of patience and... ...

Read the full story in our magazine online: BY EMILY SHIELDS Deron Pearson, CEO of the IT company Nexus IS, has enjoyed a parade of success since he first started buying horses two decades ago. Stakes winners such as Ticker Tape, Prize Exhibit, and Ocho Ocho Ocho made a name for Pearson across the country. But when Continental Divide took the $101,035 Graduation Stakes at Del Mar, the bay colt brought Pearson his first-ever California-bred stakes win. Winning a stakes race at Del Mar was only fitting, as Pearson first found an interest in the sport by visiting the seaside oval with his grandfather. “I started buying small interests in horses about 20 years ago,” said Pearson, “and built up my stable over time as money allowed.” Pearson developed a working partnership with trainer James Cassidy, who helped Pearson buy a string of horses from England. “Jim was doing that already, so that was our angle at the beginning,” Pearson said. ….. Read the full story here.   ...

Read the full story in our magazine online: BY EMILY SHIELDS Trainer Bill Spawr had plenty of confdence in Skye Diamonds before the $200,000 Great Lady M. Stakes (G2), at least until he looked at the feld. Te four rivals in the July 8 contest included Eclipse champion and Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) winner Finest City, grade 1 winner Constellation, and dual grade 2 winner Pretty N Cool. “She was training so well; I thought she could win,” Spawr said. “But when I saw the competition, I knew she would have to be at her very best to beat those kinds of fillies. I still can’t believe she won so well and so fast.” Skye Diamonds raced in midpack early, rolled four wide into the stretch, and cruised past David Flores on Constellation to win by 21⁄2 lengths, stopping the clock in 1:14.79 for the 61⁄2-furlong distance. Te next day, Flores told Spawr, “I was loaded with a fresh horse and I couldn’t believe that your filly... ...

Read the full story in our magazine online: By Emily Shields Sean Feld is on a mission to shake up the Thoroughbred breeding industry, and the 30-year-old pioneer is well on his way via his Climax Stallions. The syndicate group puts a modern twist on an old system, with new stallions in California a part of the venture. Feld was born in Pasadena and spent the majority of his childhood at Santa Anita. His father, Bob, and uncle, Jude, were both working on the track. Jude was a trainer, and Bob advised on such purchases as Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) winner Adoration and Hollywood Futurity (G1) hero Siphonic. The younger Feld won’t even admit to his age when he started walking hots at the track – “I was probably not legally allowed to yet” – but a career in racing was always in the cards for him…. READ FULL STORY  ...

See the full story featured in our printed magazine online Joe Turner was just doing his job as an iron contractor when the people of Old English Rancho called for an estimate. They needed new security gates for the farm, and after giving a prediction of $32,000 for the work, Turner joked that he would trade labor and parts for a racehorse. “I was thinking only part of it, maybe $5,000,” he recalled. “They were serious. My friends said, ‘Don’t you know how much it costs to feed one of those?’ ” For a year Turner deliberated without returning to the farm to see about his new horse or worry about collecting the money. He eventually discussed the circumstance with farm owner Buddy Johnston, who pointed out that the horse, Some Hitter, a California- bred by Dimaggio, was about to race again. Turner went to see his construction trade run. Some Hitter won that race and was claimed away. Johnston thought that was pretty lucky for Turner, and convinced him... ...

See the full story featured in our printed magazine online First stakes winners are special, no matter what the circumstances. When a homebred gets the job done, it means even more. Not only did Myles McMahon win the $60,075 Golden Gate Debutante Stakes Nov. 25 with homebred Isa Firecracker, but he put together the breeding after thorough research. It is paying of with winners that his entire family enjoys. “This is not only my first stakes winner, it’s my trainer’s first stakes winner too,” said McMahon. Jamey Tomas trains Mc-Mahon’s horses in Northern California, a partnership that has evolved into a friendship as well. “I was looking for a trainer who would take a guy like me who had never owned a horse and would be somewhat local,” said McMahon. “Jamey lived in Sacramento, about three miles away from me at the time.” …….. FULL STORY ...

See the full story featured in our printed magazine online Dr. Dorothée Kieckhefer has had a life split in two distinct acts. She grew up in Germany, holds a Ph.D. in criminal law, and worked as an international business journalist for many years. Now living on a cattle ranch in Arizona and breeding Thoroughbreds, she is widely removed from that version of her life. “I grew up around horses, riding mainly dressage,” Kieckhefer said, “and later was introduced to Quarter Horses and Appaloosas as well, then both a rarity in Germany. I read in an American Quarter Horse Association magazine about the Racetrack Industry Program at the University of Arizona that focuses primarily on second-degree students interested in a career in the horse industry.” In 2005 Kieckhefer graduated as the outstanding senior of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “They got the ‘senior’ part right, as I was 45 years old at that time,” she joked. “The ‘outstanding’ I’m not so sure.” In 2006 Kieckhefer started her own Thoroughbred... ...

See the full story featured in our printed magazine online             When Marguerite Eliasson greets visitors or clients outside the hacienda-style farm office and foaling barn of E.A. Ranches, the immediate feeling of class and competence is palpable. The 1,000-acre breeding, boarding, and training facility in the fertile hills above Ramona is a breathtakingly beautiful island of peace and tranquility. Every detail is centered around lightning-fast Thoroughbreds, the passion of the late Ernest Auerbach. Shortly after the real estate developer founded E.A. Ranches in the late 1970s, he handed the reins over to Eliasson, whose 35-plus years of hard work, loyalty to the family, and unshakable belief in the stallions of the ranch are now culminating in a very special feat: Tis year not one but two offspring of E.A. Ranches’ stallions are scheduled to participate in the Breeders’ Cup. Ashleyluvssugar, a 5-year old gelding by the late Game Plan (by Danzig), will contest the $4 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (gr. IT). THe multiple... ...