BIG CITY LIGHTS IS COUPLE’S LATEST CAL-BRED STAR Approaching 50 years in the breeding and racing industry, Pam and Neal Christopherson likely would be considering retirement or at least cutting back. That doesn’t appear to be the case. It’s foaling time for the owners of Bar C Racing Stables in northeastern Oregon, where the Christophersons currently oversee a dozen broodmares and their yearlings, as well as five stallions. They’ve built an enviable regional breeding operation over the past 20 years, thanks to the success of their stand-out sire Harbor the Gold, who died in 2020. They sold a yearling for $1.35 million in 2023 at Keeneland to one of the world’s premier racing teams; that colt is now with the internationally recognized Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien. And they bred one of the West Coast’s top current sprinters, the California-bred star Big City Lights. Inducted into the Washington Racing Hall of Fame in 2023, the Christophersons, who will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in August, are enjoying the ride. “We... ...

OWNER WINS PLEASANTON STAKES WITH NORTHERN SALE GRADUATE MALA For a longtime Thoroughbred owner racing primarily in Northern California, 2024 was a most paradoxical year for Modesto’s Greg Avery. Running claiming-level horses, Avery amassed total earnings of about $380,000—mostly through his partnership with Zvika Akin and trainer Steve Sherman—easily the best of his career. Yet the year also delivered a harsh double blow, started by the permanent closure in June of his home track, Golden Gate Fields. That was followed by the recent decision by Golden State Racing to forgo future racing dates at the region’s designated replacement venue, the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. That caught Avery by surprise, coming after a 26-day Pleasanton meet this fall that proved a financial disappointment. With nowhere to turn for now, many northern-based horsemen such as Avery are left to focus on Santa Anita. Track owner 1/ST Racing has pledged racing opportunities for them and financial assistance for shipping and keeping the Pleasanton facility open for year-round training purposes. Avery admits worrying... ...

IDAHO HORSEWOMAN HAS ALOTALUCK WITH CALIFORNIA-BRED  With one mare and decades of patience, Eleanor Martin knows it is never too late to get lucky. At the age of 80, the lifelong Idaho horsewoman got her first taste of graded stakes glory with the aptly named 3-year-old Alotaluck, a son of her only current broodmare, Colinda Dawn. True, her 50-year-plus wait didn’t come with a win, but the California-bred gelding by Sir Prancealot did produce a runner-up finish in last February’s $400,000 Sunland Derby (G3). Then Martin had to delay enjoying her milestone for seven months while she successfully appealed a Sunland Park stewards’ decision to disqualify the rider of Alotaluck for excessive use of his whip and declaring Alotaluck a non-starter. It all worked out in Martin’s favor with Alotaluck’s finish reinstated—as well as the $85,360 in purse money he earned—and she and her horse have moved on. The dark bay, trained by Martin’s nephew, Ty J. Garrett, has banked $240,788 while winning three of seven lifetime starts with a... ...

EQUINE CONNECTION LEADS TO SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS VENTURE You might think Missouri businessman John Moroney was “thinking outside the bun” 35 years ago, convincing a local bank owner that it would be a smart move to back his plan to develop a few Taco Bell fast food restaurants in the St. Louis area. Thanks to his good timing and that early investment, Moroney proved to be right. Today he owns and operates 23 of the Mexican-style food franchises in Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky. Surprisingly, Moroney adds, “None of it would have happened if not for horse racing.” In the past few years, the jovial Moroney has become known in California racing as part of leading breeder Terry Lovingier’s cadre of horse investment partners. He recently purchased the $250,000 sales topper, bred by Lovingier, at the Fasig-Tipton California fall yearling auction. That was far from where he started. It was in the late 1980s. Moroney was a struggling owner of a franchise burger restaurant. But he saw an opportunity to “make a... ...

FORMER BASEBALL PLAYER STANDS HALLADAY IN CALIFORNIA Connor Harrell admits to feeling down-cast after his young stallion Halladay didn’t fare better at Fasig-Tipton’s California fall yearling sale Sept. 24 in Pomona. The sale was the first big test for his grade 1-winning son of standout sire War Front of the market for state-brews, where horsemen are reeling from the closure of Golden Gate Fields and other economic factors. While 12 of his 15 yearlings sold (one was withdrawn), the average price of $12,667 was well below what Harrell hoped for. “Disappointed,” said Harrell, a third-generation horse owner whose syndicate is standing Halladay at Harris Farms for $7,500, when asked for his reaction. “But being realistic, there were a lot of folks in the same situation we are. It’s the sort of environment we’re in; just a tough market.” The 8-year-old Halladay won the 2020 Fourstardave Handicap (G1T) at Saratoga for trainer Todd Pletcher, repelling a number of challenges from a strong fi eld in gate-to-wire style. He won two other... ...

OWNER’S HOMEBREDS INCLUDE DOUBLE STAKES WINNER SHADY TIGER   Edward “Rusty” Brown knows a lot of people, and he has a knack for bringing them together with the sport he’s always loved—horse racing. Many of his partners are well-known personalities in the California racing community—trainers such as Bill Spawr, Jeff Bonde, and Bob Hess Jr., and fellow owners Bob Bone, Terry Lovingier, Phil Lebherz, and Alan Klein, among others.  The affable Brown is best known for his partnership with Lebherz and Klein in the syndicate supporting the popular 17-year-old stallion Smiling Tiger that has produced so many winners and sale horses for them over the years. He also is the sole owner of a few horses, most notably his versatile California homebred Shady Tiger, a Smiling Tiger 3-year-old gelding who recently won the Snow Chief Stakes Presented by City National Bank. But many other partners among Brown’s more than 60 ownership combinations are often people who see how much he enjoys the sport and want to get involved, he says. Some... ...

EQUINE BOOK INSPIRES RACEHORSE OWNER Joe Navarro has always loved horse racing lore. “Movies like ‘Seabiscuit’ and ‘Secretariat’ were important,” said Navarro, a California Thoroughbred Breeders Association member since 2019. “They were great for horse racing and the country. We need stories like these in America today.” Navarro, who considers racing his hobby, is trying to add to that inspirational list. One horse story has grabbed the Texas native’s attention like no other: Never Say Die—a near-dead new-born foal saved with a bottle of bourbon who became an international superstar. From that difficult beginning, the son of Nasrullah went on to win the 1954 Epsom Derby—the first Kentucky-bred to accomplish the feat—and the St. Leger Stakes, the oldest of the British classics, by a whopping 12 lengths. That was only a part of the amazing true tale as described in the 2013 book, Never Say Die, written by James C. Nicholson. Navarro calls the story “Seabiscuit on steroids.” It involves significant touchstones, both for racing and popular culture, beginning with... ...

SIX-S TRANSLATES TO SUCCESS Murrey Seidner didn’t aspire to anything more than a small family operation when he formed Six-S Racing Stable to indulge his passion. But his star Clubhouse Ride put him in the spotlight anyway. First as a multiple graded stakes winner of more than $1.3 million and since then as one of the top stallions in California, the 16-year-old son of undefeated Pacific Classic (G1) winner Candy Ride has been a hit-maker since his first foal crop reached the track. Among the state’s top 10 stallions since 2020 with stand-out runners such as Brickyard Ride and Warren’s Showtime, Clubhouse Ride, standing at Legacy Ranch, ranked first on the California general sire list for 2024 with progeny earnings of $1,103,943 as of March 20. Seidner, 83, is a successful businessman who owns a car dealership, Toyota of Glendora, and an automobile repair business, Seidner’s Collision Center. He started the latter in Rosemead in 1964, and it has grown to 13 locations in California’s San Gabriel Valley. Seidner has... ...

CAL-BRED INVESTMENTS PAY OFF FOR LONGTIME BANK EXECUTIVE After a lifetime of making careful investments, William Peeples wants to follow his own instincts—and smell the roses. Peeples, 81 in April, is retiring from the Goleta bank he helped start 35 years ago. That will allow him more time to spend with his wife, Ardyce, and continue pursuit of another major interest—racing Thoroughbreds. As a longtime pinhooker and client of bloodstock agent John Brocklebank, Peeples applied to horse acquisition much the same investment knowledge he used in banking. He bought and sold his best young horses and realized returns that he later reinvested. Nowadays, he’s keeping the horses he buys to race himself. “I’ve always treated racing as a business, an avocation, I guess,” Peeples said. “It’s a divergence from what I’m used to. Racing is just another world, so much more relaxing, even though I get very nervous beforehand if I have a horse running. Of course, there’s the thrill of winning a race. “It’s a challenge as well, the... ...

BREEDER FOUND GEM WITH DADDYSRUBY Montanan Steve Reger has made a career consulting for companies that drill for oil in the vast Bakken shale region of North Dakota. But the part-time horseman has discovered a gem of his own in California-bred Daddysruby, winner of the La Brea Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita. As luck would have it, Reger, who has been in the oil business for nearly 50 years, didn’t have to dig very deep. Th is 3-year-old gray or roan daughter—fittingly by the Ontario-based sire named Frac Daddy—is out the very first horse he owned, a Washington-bred mare named Youtheprizeandi. Reger, who breeds and races as Jethorse LLC, calls her “The Prize.” The 15-year-old daughter of You and I has provided the lifelong Billings resident with a number of other firsts. She was his first winner and later, his first broodmare. She produced Reger’s initial winner as a breeder as well, a stakes-placed California-bred colt by Scat Daddy named Daddysprize who earned $119,973 while winning four of 10 starts.... ...

CAL-BREDS GAVE OWNER HIS START By any measure, California horse owner Michael Nentwig and his partners have been on a roll for the past few years, racing such notable graded stakes winners as Going Global, Maxim Rate, and Ginobili, among many other standouts. These days, Nentwig manages a stable of 55 horses spread among half a dozen trainers for his investor group. Best known for importing turf runners from Ireland, Nentwig has come a long way since he began claiming a few horses with friends at Northern California tracks while still a college student at California State University, Hayward (now East Bay) in the 1990s. As things developed, it was a pair of California-breds—one acquired through a claim and one that he co-bred—that helped him at pivotal points of his journey. The Fremont native’s first big strike came in 2003, when Nentwig said he saw a Harris Farms homebred, Moscow Burning, bang into a rail in a claiming race in the stretch and still manage to win. He recalled telling... ...

Thomas Halasz, one of the owners of Bus Buzz, has a message for the aggressive animal rights organization PETA, which maintains that racing is indifferent to the welfare of its equine athletes: “This is how we care for our horses.” Halasz was referring to the lengths he and his partners went to in order to save Bus Buzz after the injury incurred by the stakes-winning California-bred. In the final race of the first day of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships Nov. 3 at Santa Anita Park, Bus Buzz was in distress when pulled up in upper stretch while battling for the lead. The mishap, over in an instant, stunned the large crowd, which let out a collective gasp. PETA, in a statement released Nov. 7, questioned whether track and Breeders’ Cup officials, as well as trainer Steve Knapp, were covering up the condition of the 3-year-old Bus Buzz to avoid scrutiny. The group has long been opposed to the horse racing industry and closely monitors negative publicity about the sport.... ...

Horse owner John Tipton has been a familiar presence at Bay Area racetracks and the summer fair meets for more than three decades. Since 2000, his horses—competing mostly at the lower claiming levels—have banked more than $1 million, according to Equibase. And those are just the horses he’s owned outright, not to mention the 30 or so racing partnerships to which he has belonged. He’s bred a few horses as well. But, he admits, nothing he has done in the business comes close to the attention he has garnered since he and his daughters, Alissa and Hallie, began a new racing venture called Mean Girls Racing Stable. The ultimate goal behind it—a successful women’s-only racehorse ownership syndicate—is a ways off , Tipton knows. But they are laying the foundation. The stable name, of course, comes from the iconic 2004 comedy film about high school life for an exclusive gang of fashion-obsessed coeds that starred Lindsay Lohan and Tina Fey. Both Alissa and Hallie said it was one of their favorite... ...

Jeff Ganje learned his winning moves early in life. How many other horse breeders can say they had the iconic hip-hop star MC Hammer’s backup dancers practicing their choreography in his living room? Bet U can’t touch that. True story: While Ganje was attending Cal State Hayward, where he played football and ran track in the early 1990s, his teammate and roommate Alonzo Carter was part of the Hammer dance troupe that used their place to practice. Ganje was caught up in the excitement as well, tagging along with Hammer — who enjoyed success in racing for a time with his Oaktown Stable — throughout the rapper’s “U Can’t Touch This” tour. Ganje even entertained the thought of a musical career himself, rapping on a demo recording for Hammer before abandoning the idea. “I didn’t really have the talent,” he says. These days, the fast footwork that Ganje appreciates most are from the horses he owns, like the recent graded stakes winner Shotgun Hottie and the 2-year-old California-bred juvenile Lord... ...

CAMARADERIE PUTS MORE FUN INTO RACING As far back as grade school, horse owner Victor Flores has been driven to succeed. Bored with the classes he was taking at Workman High School in La Puente and restless to make his way in the world, Flores decided he’d had enough during the second half of his sophomore year. After being informed by his counselor that he was so far behind in credits that he would not be able to graduate on time, the 16-year-old Flores passed the GED test. By the next week, he was working in a manufacturing plant.  “My parents totally signed off  on my decision,” Flores said. “They knew I wouldn’t just lay around.” Often working two jobs at a time, he found his way to Dow Hydraulic Systems in 1987 as an employee for a company that manufactures and tests precision hydraulic parts for the aerospace industry. Thirty-six years later, he is the general manager and co-owner of the firm, which he said has about 100 employees... ...

BUILDING TRUST WITH EVERY FOAL HE BREEDS Ken Miles, breeder of Old Pal, winner of this year’s Snow Chief Stakes Presented by City National Bank, says he tries to keep one thing in mind as his young horses are preparing for the eventual sales ring. “A horse may have many owners during its lifetime; you never know what will happen after leaving you,” he said. “But it will only have one breeder. Your name will always be attached to that horse.” Getting a young charge to accept the “human touch” is one of the most important qualities he can instill in order to forge a successful transition to racehorse, says the Washington breeder. Beginning as early as possible in a young horse’s life, Miles wants a weanling to become accustomed to being handled. “Not only do I love it (playing with the foals), but it’s to their benefit, I really believe that,” he said. “Over time, it builds a lot of trust.” Even if the horse only has a short... ...

  When Arroyo Vista Farm’s horse manager, Miguel (Mike) Jimenez, looks at his career arc, what he sees is a circle. The ranch where the veteran horseman of more than 35 years got his start as an assistant—Valley Creek Farm in Valley Center, Calif.—is located on the same northeast San Diego County property as Arroyo Vista Farm, Henry Williamson’s 45-acre Thoroughbred breeding operation. In many ways, Jimenez grew up there. And as far as he is concerned, it’s a place he plans on never leaving. “I’m hoping to continue to do the same thing I’m doing,” said Jimenez, 54, reflecting on the future. “I would want to still manage a farm. Heaven forbid, if anything were to happen and this place was forced to close down, I don’t know what else I’d do.” At Arroyo Vista, Jimenez and his staff , including chief assistant Pablo Martinez, oversee 40 mares, 30 weanlings, and roughly an equal number of yearlings. The numbers fluctuate, Jimenez noted, as mares are sent out for breeding elsewhere... ...

Nick Hines, long familiar to fans for his racing analysis as “The Sarge” on television, showed up as the leading buyer at the recent California Thoroughbred Breeders Association winter mixed sale at Pomona. It’s not surprising. The former trainer and longtime TV host has been an independent bloodstock agent for more than a decade. He spends much of his time scouting Thoroughbreds for his clients and attending sales throughout the country. At the Jan. 31 auction, the budget-conscious Hines led the way with seven purchases totaling $132,000. Discussing his change in career direction, he said he reluctantly stepped away from training in the fall of 2007, a year after getting married. “I was at a crossroads,” Hines explained. “I had been offered a job with Southern Equine Stable to manage their horses. I had about 30 horses at the time, training a few for Harris Farms and also for Paul Girdner, an owner who played a big part in my career. I had married Michelle in 2006, and we wanted... ...

ALABAMA’S LOSS IS CALIFORNIA’S GAIN In some small way, Carla Gaines—one of the most successful and admired horse trainers in the state—owes it all to California Thoroughbred magazine. As she relates the story, the youthful Gaines was reading the periodical in an administrative office adjacent to a stallion barn in the bayou country of central Louisiana one icy winter morning when she made the decision that changed her life. The people she was working with at the time were pinhookers—in the business of buying yearlings and preparing them for resale as 2-year-olds. She enjoyed the people and working with the horses, but the weather was frightful. “It was so miserable,” she recalled. “It just rained and rained and it was freezing cold. The pictures (in the magazine) were so inviting; it seemed so sunny and I remember telling my friend, ‘I’m packing my stuff  and I’m going to California.’ Anyway, that’s how I got my start.” Little did Gaines realize that her decision would lead to a training career totaling 31... ...

RENELLA’S HOMEBRED CHISMOSA GIVES ‘EM SOMETHIN’ TO TALK ABOUT You don’t have to spend much time talking to Jaime (Jim) Renella without realizing he’s about as close to the epitome of the American Dream as anyone can get. He came to Southern California with his family from Ecuador at the age of 4. Times were difficult, but he adapted to his new country. After leaving college—“I think I attended just about every JC in the area,” he joked—Renella wanted to make his way in the world. He worked hard learning the manufacturing business for several years. When the opportunity arose, he started his own company, Performance Tube Bending Inc., specializing in creating customized intake/exhaust systems for automobiles, in 2004 in Irwindale. The business proved successful and allowed him to indulge, at least a little bit, in his passion for horse racing. The first horse Renella claimed in 2010 also became the only mare he has bred. That mare, the aptly named You Can Dream, has produced five winners for him, including his latest, the 2-year-old filly... ...

THE JETT SET ARE SOLD ON CALIFORNIA RACING In Larry Jett’s mind, he probably had a future Kentucky Derby winner, but Red Ralph never hit the board. After years of attending the races as a fan, Jett, along with wife Ann, had purchased his first California-bred  Thoroughbred. There were high hopes for Red Ralph, a chestnut gelding by M. Double M.—Jakscent, by Jaklin Klugman. “The fellow that owned him couldn’t have him anymore, so I bought the horse for $5,000,” Larry said. “Within two days of working him in the round pen, he came up lame. The former owner said that if we paid for the vet, they would give us our money back.” He added wryly, “Keep in mind, this was the future Kentucky Derby winner.” It turned out that Red Ralph had osteochondritis dissecans (OCD), and surgery to clean out the joint didn’t help when he bucked shins not once, but twice. Still, the Jetts remained optimistic. “His first race came as a 4-year-old at Del Mar,” Larry said. “I had... ...

CONTINUING THE FAMILY TRADITION California breeder Ronald Rand certainly had a lifelong horse connection, but the racing bug didn’t truly bite until Aug. 28, 2011. That was the day Californiabred star Acclamation won the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic (G1) by a head. “That was definitely the catalyst for getting me in horse racing,” Rand said. Acclamation’s career is worthy of the silver screen, as the son of Unusual Heat—Winning in Style, by Silveyville, earned $1,958,048 with 11 wins, two seconds, and six thirds in 30 starts.  “He won the Eddie Read (G1T) twice, and the Charles Whittingham (G1T) three times,” said Rand. “But that Pacific Classic—that was the ride that did it.” Pitted against graded stakes stars Twirling Candy and Game On Dude, Acclamation went to the lead under Patrick Valenzuela and kept going. His achievements in 2011 earned him the title as the Eclipse Award national champion older male. Long before that fateful day at Del Mar, Rand’s family was already in the horse business. It traces back... ...

FRIENDLY ADVICE LEADS TO RACING SUCCESS When it came to business, lifelong Sacramento resident Larry Odbert had a knack for making the right choices—at least often enough to be highly successful. But more than 10 years after getting into horse ownership, including a few stabs at breeding a couple of the mares he had acquired, the 69-year-old Odbert admits he was stymied. Associated with or in charge of more than 20 businesses during a career of 40-plus years, Odbert wondered whether he was doing the right thing being in the horse trade. But then along came “Joe.” Freeport Joe, that is. The 5-year-old California-bred gelded son of the deceased top turf sire English Channel has been on a tear at Golden Gate Fields. He has won six of 11 starts dating back to August 2021, with two seconds and a third. A tyro over Golden Gate’s all-weather Tapeta main track, the late-running Freeport Joe has won two of the biggest races in Northern California in recent months. He grabbed the Berkeley... ...

California Thoroughbred owner learns value of friendships and racing partnerships Before he turned 16, Tom Beckerle was already working on the outskirts of the racing industry. He began by selling tip sheets at Los Alamitos near where he grew up and fell in love with the racehorses, as so many do.  “That’s how I got started,” Beckerle recalled. “As I got older, I got involved with a syndicate.” One syndicate of horse owners turned into many, and Beckerle was recently rewarded for his investment via Tom’s Regret. That California-bred 2-year-old filly triumphed in the $179,785 Kentucky Juvenile Stakes at Churchill Downs in Kentucky May 5. Long before Tom’s Regret, Beckerle was trying his hand in the game. The first horse that Beckerle bought into was Set Play, a Florida-bred filly trained by Peter Miller. Set Play broke her maiden first out, won the 2007 Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1) three months later and ultimately ran 11th in the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at odds of 41-1. “I got to... ...

RACING WITH A CTBA EDUCATION At the age of 5, Martha Miller was already ducking under the turnstile to get into the racetrack for free. She knew how to read the Daily Racing Form before tackling first-grade level books and still has old scrapbooks of the jockeys and horses she loved as a child. Racing wormed its way into Miller’s heart early on and never let go. “My father raised me on the track; I grew up with it,” she said. “I swore that if I ever had the money, I would have a racehorse.” With time came money, and with money came an investment into partnerships and the racing industry in general. From 1990 on, Miller was entrenched in racing, starting with California-bred Reason to Be, a mare by Aloma’s Ruler. “I gradually became very much hands on,” Miller said. “I did a lot of reading and research and noting what was happening. I got acquainted with Leigh Ann Howard, which was one of the best things that ever... ...

Flying Buccaneer taught Glenn Porter a thing or two about patience. The California-bred son of Oats and Corn was Porter’s first ever claim back in 1987 at Turf Paradise. He couldn’t win in Arizona and ultimately ended up in Mexico at Agua Caliente, finally breaking his maiden in start number 15.  The exploits of Flying Buccaneer were indicative of Porter’s early success with Thoroughbreds. Porter, who had also purchased a ranch around the same time, had to wait a long time for his first star. But Porter is no quitter. A hard worker, he owned his first gas station in Palos Verdes at the age of 25, making him the youngest station owner in Southern California. He has owned two auto repair shops for the last 35 years: Glenn’s Auto Repair in Tarzana and European Car Care in Corona. Both have glowing Yelp reviews. “I’m not an absentee owner—I work just as hard as any of the guys that work for me,” Porter said. “And if you keep doing well... ...

Very few people get to win a stakes race with their very first homebred, but Lucy Lawrence was that kind of lucky. When California-bred Aligato won the $196,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic Presented by City National Bank at Santa Anita Jan. 15, he not only became Lawrence’s first homebred stakes winner, but he also overcame several obstacles that made him an unlikely victor. After numerous setbacks, the California-bred son of Kitten’s Joy – Pretty Hard, by Rock Hard Ten, didn’t debut until midway through his 4-year-old season and was making his stakes debut in the Turf Classic. He was stretching from six furlongs to 11⁄8 miles and was facing a field of seasoned runners, including 2020 California Champion Big Fish, multiple graded stakes placed Camino Del Paraiso, and stakes winner Indian Peak. Unlikely though it was, Aligato won anyway, swooping under Flavien Prat to give Lawrence and Bob Liewald’s Double L Racing its first stakes winner. Lawrence and Liewald did not have to wait very long. “We both grew up... ...

Over the years, Academic Farms has had a parade of horses with a common naming theme: Lucky Student, Teachers Big Dream, and Wise Student. Perhaps the best of them was California-bred Easy Grader, a four-time winner on the Southern California circuit who earned $175,733. Enter Professors’ Pride, who runs for the final remaining member of Academic Farms: Larry Samovar. The unbeaten Cal-bred daughter of Bayern—Last Resort, by Twirling Candy, recently won the $101,500 Soviet Problem Stakes at Los Alamitos, sparking joy in the hearts of 86-year-old Larry and his 79-year-old wife, Carolyn. Long before Professors’ Pride burst onto the scene, three studious men started Academic Farms with a common goal. “One was a pediatrician, one was a professor of journalism, and I was a professor in intercultural communication,” Larry said. “We each put in $1,000 and bought a horse from John and Betty Mabee at Golden Eagle Farm. We didn’t have any luck.” Horses got hurt; horses ran unsuccessfully. “We went through a lot of different horses,” Samovar said. “We claimed,... ...

One of the prominent names in California racing is that of Gayle Van Leer, a former trainer and farm manager turned successful bloodstock agent who has been behind a parade of graded stakes winners for decades. After trying her hand in just about every aspect of the sport, Van Leer is more than happy with her bloodstock business and continues to excel at her favorite sport.  Although she is best known as the racing manager for perennial leading California-based owner Golden Eagle Farm, Van Leer began her career in racing well before that gig.  “I started as an exercise rider,” she said. “I was working the 2-year-old sales, and I was a really good rider, which got people’s attention.” She ultimately opened her own training barn, taking in second-string horses for leading trainers around Southern California. Her program at San Luis Rey Downs in the 1980s helped develop Eclipse Award champion 2-year-old male Roving Boy. How did she land the famous Golden Eagle position? Van Leer laughed while remembering the... ...

When owners were allowed on the Del Mar backstretch this summer after the COVID restrictions of 2020, Jerry Weseloh breathed a sigh of relief. He could finally again visit California-bred Brandothebartender at trainer Craig Dollase’s barn. “I’m going to be the biggest barn groupie this year,” Weseloh told Dollase. Weseloh would have camped out at the Dollase barn even if 8-year-old Brandothebartender weren’t having the best season of his career. But now the San Diego native, who owns the gelding with four friends, has even more reason to visit. And since he and his family had recently sold their automotive dealerships, he has more time for his role as chief barn groupie. Dollase has trained several good runners for Weseloh and his partners in Flawless Racing. It’s an enthusiastic group that enjoys claiming horses and has had much success with just a few runners. Weseloh attributes almost all of it to Brandothebartender, a $40,000 claim at Del Mar in 2018 who subsequently has won four stakes and banked a career... ...

RON BEEGLE SETS OUT ON HIS OWN VOYAGE California Thoroughbred Breeders Association member Ron Beegle, who stands Golden State stallion Majestic Harbor, can trace his affinity for horse racing back to his younger days, and in particular to a spectacular Thoroughbred named Alysheba. “Watching Alysheba stumble and still win the 1987 Kentucky Derby convinced me that Thoroughbreds were extraordinary athletes,” Beegle said. “And, that some horses, like Alysheba, were all heart and determined to win every time they stepped on the track.” Completely hooked, Beegle followed Alysheba’s career, “like baseball and football fans followed their heroes.” But it wasn’t until 1998 that he met, by chance, a woman who would change his life. “I was lucky enough to be on a tour of the back-side at the Kentucky Derby, and our guide was a young lady named Loren Hebel-Osborne,” Beegle recalled.  “We started talking, and I shared my admiration for Alysheba. Lori told me she and her husband, now Kentucky’s Speaker of the House David Osborne, also loved Alysheba and they had a broodmare... ...

Six horses based in California have won the Preakness Stakes (G1) since 2010. On May 15, Rombauer raised that number to seven when the son of Twirling Candy took the 2021 edition of the Preakness at Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Md. It was the first Triple Crown race win for John and Diane Fradkin, who have been successfully breeding and racing in California for years. Rombauer has vaulted to the top of the list of horses campaigned by the couple, but before him came a parade of classy runners, many of them California-breds. John Fradkin was working one of his first real jobs out of college as a small-time institutional bond salesman when he was introduced to racing. A co-worker, Robert Allen, grew up near Santa Anita and knew how to handicap. “We were young guys keeping Wall Street hours while working on the West Coast,” said Fradkin, “which meant that by 2 p.m. we were looking for trouble. He said we should go to the races and that I... ...

Odd Henry might have just been a $2,500 claimer, but the Texas-bred filly is the reason John Haagsma got hooked on racing. In partnership with Harold Tillema and his father, John D. Haagsma, the younger Haagsma first got involved in the sport as an owner via Odd Henry, who broke her maiden at Los Alamitos July 8, 1995. “That first win got me hooked,” Haagsma admitted. Horse racing was not a foreign concept to Haagsma, whose grandfather Dave Haagsma raced Quarter Horses at both Los Alamitos and Fairplex in Pomona. John Sr. took his son to the races regularly, but nothing matched the thrill of winning as an owner or breeder, a feeling Haagsma started to chase. He was involved in the California Cup-winning broodmare Theresa’s Pleasure, who had captured the inaugural Juvenile Fillies in 1990. When her breeder/owner, Lester Smith, passed away, Theresa’s Pleasure was offered to Tillema and his partners, who bred and/or raced her off spring, including multiple stakes winners Excessive Theresa and Lesters Boy. A third... ...

People often have a similar story that explains how they got into the game. Perhaps parents took them to the track as children, or maybe a relative taught them to bet and an early win turned into an obsession. Frederick Larsen’s story is unlike any other, an emotional roller coaster that now has him poised to make a big impact on racing in California. In the late 1990s, Larsen’s parents bought a farm in Phoenix, Ariz., with the idea of getting into the breeding and racing business. Larsen was living in Los Angeles, so they gave him ownership of one foal, who went on to break its maiden at Turf Paradise.  “I fell in love with it,” Larsen recalled. “I was always chasing that next win.” When his mother suffered a massive stroke in 2009, Larsen dropped everything and stepped in to take over the family horse business. “My dad was always out of town working, and my mother was the one talking to the trainers and aware of where... ...

By Emily Shields CAL-BRED TRAINER EXTOLS THE CAL-BRED PROGRAM Dave Hofmans is quick to point out that not only does he love and support the California-bred racing program, he is a Cal-bred himself. “I was born and raised right here in Southern California,” the affable trainer said. On top of that, he has a marvelous Golden State runner currently in the barn in Big Fish, and his all-time favorite horse was a Cal-bred, too. After growing up in the sport as a groom and hot-walker, Hofmans spent time working for trainers Bobby Frankel and Farrell Jones. He got his first win as a trainer in 1974 over the hallowed Santa Anita course and has been winning races there ever since. In 1986 Hofmans began an association with Georgia Ridder, widow of B.J. “Ben” Ridder; both of the Ridders were active members of the California breeding and racing community and had resided in nearby Pasadena. Their standout stallion Flying Paster won the Santa Anita and Hollywood Derbies and was the 1978 Cal-bred Horse of the... ...

Dr. Ed Allred is synonymous with so many facets of the racing industry, most notably as the owner of Los Alamitos Racetrack in Cypress. His exploits and successes in the Quarter Horse industry are legendary, as he is the man behind world champions Charger Bar and Separatist, among others. He was the first to go over $20 million in Quarter Horse earnings and remains the sport’s all-time leading owner and breeder. But less is known about Allred’s pursuits in the Thoroughbred industry. Although he breeds only from 4 to 10 Thoroughbreds a year, Allred has had a steady trickle of stakes winners. Most recently Allred-bred North County Guy won the $201,500 Unusual Heat Turf Classic Stakes Presented by City National Bank at Santa Anita. Allred was introduced to racing in the 1940s and has since done much to promote the sport and make it cleaner, safer, and better for horses and horsemen alike. While becoming a titan in the Quarter Horse game, Allred was slowly collecting a group of Thoroughbred... ...

By Emily Shield CONTINUING THE FAMILY TRADITION Henry Williamson is the first to admit that horse racing “sinks into your DNA after a while.” He would know, as a grandmother on one side of the family and a grandfather on the other side held box seats at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park for years. Then his father, the late Warren Williamson, bred and owned some of the best modern runners in the state. Through it all, the younger Williamson has been there, relishing every moment. “It’s not that I keep track of stuff  like this,” Williamson joked, “but the first time we saw the winner’s circle in California was on Aug. 3, 1972. I was 10 years old.”  Williamson’s father was hooked and began breeding horses locally in California. Warren bred and/or raced the likes of grade 1-winning California-bred millionaire Nashoba’s Key, dual grade 2 winner Foxysox, and the ultra-quick Cal-bred Tiz Elemental, who won three straight stakes races. “There were quite a few moments where we were in disbelief of our... ...

By Emily Shield When California Chrome was just an unassuming, leggy chestnut foal, Perry and Denise Martin could never have guessed that their first-ever homebred would take them on such a wild ride. Nine years and numerous stakes wins later, California Chrome’s legacy is at the heart of everything the Martins are doing in the racing industry. As they expand their reach both domestically, with breeding operations in Wyoming and Louisiana, as well as internationally, with horses in Japan and England, it is California Chrome who continues to fuel their obvious passion for the sport. The California Chrome story quickly became racing lore, beginning with Love the Chase, a broodmare who earned just $7,020 on the track and cost Martin and his business partner, Steve Coburn, $8,000. They bred her to $2,500 stallion Lucky Pulpit and got $14,752,650-earner California Chrome, who won four Eclipse Awards including two Horse of the Year titles. His grade 1 wins include the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Dubai World Cup, and Pacific Classic. But it’s... ...

A NEW LIFE JOURNEY WITH HORSES Linda Templeton thought she had done it all. She owned a cattle ranch, had a riding horse, and had been to the rodeo and various cattle shows. But when Thoroughbred breeder Terry Lovingier asked her if she had ever been to the races, Templeton admitted she hadn’t. “He said, ‘Get your purse; I’m taking you to a horse race,’” Templeton recalled. “I went, and I fell in love.” Lovingier had purchased Templeton’s cattle ranch in 2005 and converted it into a Thoroughbred breeding farm – Lovacres Ranch. “I’d asked him what he was going to do with the acreage, and he said he raised Thoroughbreds,” Templeton said. “I asked what he did with them, and he said race them. That’s when I had to say I’d never been.” By the end of the year, Templeton owned part of four horses with Lovingier, competing in the name of Templeton Horses. She deeply loved them all. California-bred Sweet Forever was in that group. The daughter of Rio... ...

By Emily Shields Dr. William T. Gray is a self-proclaimed “realist,” saying, “I’ve never aspired to win the Kentucky Derby. I just want some $25,000 to $50,000 claiming horses that will pay the bills, and some hard-knocking mares who win 10 races so that we can breed those and get more of them.” The Grays climb the peak of success with Cal-breds The strategy has worked beyond expectations. Despite their modest intentions, Dr. Gray and his wife, Jill, have been responsible for horses such as Tornado Betty, Weewinnin, and 2020 stakes winner Indian Peak. Gray grew up in the New Mexico horse racing business. His father, Wesley, was a trainer of both Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds. At 85, the elder Gray is still involved with raising foals but no longer trains. William remembers partnering with his father on some yearlings in the early 1980s and racing horses until he went to vet school. “I sold them all so I could go to school,” he said. “I didn’t start my own... ...

Janet Cosgrove and her late husband, Pat, started with just one injured mare and worked their way up to being the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association’s Oregon Breeder of the Year in 1995. More than two decades later, their operation is still making headlines, as the Cosgrove-bred Grinning Tiger won the June 6 Crystal Water Stakes at Santa Anita in a 92-1 upset. OREGON BREEDERS LEAVE LASTING LEGACY The Cosgrove couple, who married in 1959, only knew the world of Quarter Horses until a friend sold them Little Mindy, “a Thoroughbred mare with a crippled leg,” said Janet. Little Mindy was in foal to the stakes-winning stallion Mud and Water. “That was our first Thoroughbred,” Cosgrove said. “We bred her back to Mud and Water several times to put the babies through the Oregon sale.” The Cosgroves soon acquired a second mare, then a third. One of the mares was Cheeky Greek, by Darn Cheeky. She was bred to stakes-placed winner Restless Run to produce standout runner Greek Native. The Oregon-bred was sent to... ...

  “I was a horse racing fan for a long time, but until 19 years ago I couldn’t aff =ord to participate,” he said. “Suddenly I had a little bit of money, so I started wasting it on horses, and I’ve continued to waste it on horses ever since.” Jokes aside, Policzer has been a longtime supporter of the California racing and breeding industry, having bred several six-figure earners. He first got involved in small partnerships before buying a Carson City filly named Bella Sierra in 2001. She finished last on debut and continued to run poorly until she was claimed out of her only win in January 2004. That experience taught Policzer to stay in partnerships, where the cost could be spread among several partners.  “Over the years I’ve shared a lot of horses with a lot of other people and almost none worked out well,” he said. “But to be honest, my original plan was to be solely a breeder and sell them. If I had stuck to... ...

By Emily Shields Martin Bach might be 80, but he still remembers ducking under the turnstiles to enter Arlington Park as a child with his parents. After his wedding 57 years ago, he told his wife, Bobbi, “One day I’m going to own a horse.” Her reply? “As long as it comes after a house.” Bach, who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1962, got his chance. Friends bought a yearling out of the Del Mar sale in 1970 and offered him 25% ownership. “I said, ‘Where do I send the money?’ That was my intro,” Bach recalled. Over the next 15 years Bach dabbled in ownership and thought about breeding. But he became involved in the management side when he snagged a spot on the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California in 2003. “I’m not sure I even knew what the TOC was,” Bach said. “But I was the finance chair for six years, and I became friends with everyone: Jack Owens, Madeline Auerbach, Ron Charles. Some... ...

Read online: BY EMILY SHIELDS Kulbhushan Sareen—known to all as K. B. —never would have guessed he would end up breeding horses. In fact, his route to California from his boyhood in Calcutta was so circuitous that it’s a surprise he is in the sport at all. But through all of his global travels, a love of horse racing has endured. “It was destiny,” Sareen said. After his father passed away when he was an infant, Sareen grew up in a poor family led by a single mother with five children. “My childhood wasn’t very pleasant,” Sareen admitted, “and I never had any money on me.” But he became good at scraping together 40 rupees to take to the Royal Calcutta Turf Club on Saturdays, earning enough back with his wagering selections to buy a week of room and board. “I was pretty lucky,” he said. He eventually made enough to go to university, achieving a bachelor’s degree in four years. He still used his racetrack winnings to “pay for... ...

By Emily Shields When a friend encouraged Jeff Kitchen to try horse ownership, the longtime bettor resisted. “I had been warned,” the 71-year-old said wryly. “I knew the risks.” Kitchen had been “playing the ponies” since the early 1970s, getting involved right around the time of Secretariat’s immortal run through the Triple Crown. “Racing was a constant in my life,” the longtime construction and remodeling guru said. “But my friend finally prevailed.” When Kitchen gave in, a new owner and breeder in California was born. Kitchen’s first horse, California-bred Capital Cat, had “moderate success,” with three career wins while bouncing around the claiming ranks. Kitchen owned pieces of a few lower-level claiming horses before getting involved with a horse named Coach Bob. Trained by Reina Gonzalez, the son of Bertrando—Gentleman’s Hope, by Yankee Gentleman, was a multiple stakes-placed winner of $211,367. He won four of 35 starts, with five seconds and five thirds, competing in races such as the Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) and San Francisco Mile (G3T). He was... ...

Read online: By California Thoroughbred The business partnership between Joy Seifert and Linda Madsen has a personal thread. They met when their children were showing dairy cattle more than 20 years ago and became fast friends, traveling up and down the state hauling both children and cows. Madsen’s oldest son later married Seifert’s youngest daughter, cementing the storybook friendship forever. “We became in-laws, then grandparents-in-law,” Seifert said. Almost a decade ago bloodstock agent and consultant Gayle Van Leer mentioned to the friends that they should get involved with thoroughbreds. Madsen had plenty of equine experience in the Arabian industry. Seifert had some experience in racing, as her husband once had a racehorse-turned-broodmare, but “nothing that ever amounted to more than just a horse.” Seifert was dubious about getting into the industry; she and her family already own and operate a dairy farm in the Central Valley between Stockton and Sacramento with 2,500 cows. “It’s a lot of mouths to feed and keeps us pretty busy,” Seifert said. Van Leer found... ...

Read online here: By California Thoroughbred Virginia Haaland always supported husband Paul’s love of horse racing; they both hail from similar backgrounds and childhoods that included trips to the track. But when a California stallion named Prospect Park helped Paul during his battle with brain cancer, Virginia became an even deeper believer. “The miracle about all this horse stuff,” she said, “is that it would be a much heavier experience for him if he didn’t have this thing to think about and be excited about.” That “thing” is standing Prospect Park at Harris Farms in Coalinga. The well-bred horse marks the Haalands’ first foray into stallion ownership, although they have been partners in both racehorses and broodmares before. With horses on the farm and at the track, their PVNC Stables—named for Paul, Virginia, and daughters Nora and Charlotte—is an ever-evolving operation and a family affair. When Paul and Virginia met on a ski trip to Mammoth, memories of the racetrack ran in both of their minds. Paul’s father taught his... ...

Read online:   By California Thoroughbred Jaime Roth owes everything to Rachel Alexandra. Other players are involved: Parents Larry and Nanci make up the rest of her LNJ Foxwoods moniker, and bloodstock agent Alex Solis II is just one of many horsemen helping drive her success. But without the talent and graceful athleticism of Rachel Alexandra, Roth would never have been hooked. Without that plunge into the sport, there would be no Covfefe, Constellation, Nickname, or California champion Cruel Intention. “I fell in love with her,” Roth said of Rachel Alexandra. “She was a girl running against the boys.” This rang true for the athletic Roth, who was talented enough to play on boys’ teams growing up. “She piqued my interest in horse racing. I found myself up late at night watching old races. I love animals, and I love sports. When you add that up, that’s a Thoroughbred.” A 2012 trip to Del Mar helped spur the decision. A family friend set Roth up with Alex Solis II –... ...

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 California Thoroughbred Ty Green has a good sense of humor, a trait that can carry him through lean times in the racing industry. He owns and operates SLO Racing Stable and explains, “I thought it would be funny to have something called ‘slow.’ It would confuse people.”  The name is really derived from Green’s job as a lawyer in San Luis Obispo. Since Green got into the breeding game just a decade ago, his horses have been far from slow. And while his breeding and racing stable improves each year, Green has turned his attention to the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, where he now serves on the board. But Green didn’t start with horses. He started with pigs. “I grew up in the Santa Ynez Valley, where I had every animal except horses,” he said. “I had a pig operation with 200 pigs when I was 16.” Green made the leap from pigs to law via the University of Southern California, graduating with a degree in English literature before... ...

  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: From California Thoroughbred Kosta Hronis has been to the very top of the game in a short amount of time. He purchased his first racehorse in 2010 and won the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) with Accelerate. Now he has a stable full of stakes-winning stars and is turning more of his attention to breeding and acquiring California-breds. “The Cal-bred program is very attractive,” the good-natured owner said. “Being a Cal-bred owner in California is a big plus.” But long before he set about breeding his own mares, Hronis and brother Pete were simply happy kid siblings enjoying the racetrack with their family. “My grandparents on my mom’s side lived in Pasadena, so we had family outings at Santa Anita,” he said. “Pete and I fell in love with it. We ended up going down to watch races through high school, then got a box in our early 30s to go on Saturdays and Sundays when we could get away. I don’t know what made me think of... ...

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, California Thoroughbred After more than a decade in the game, Steve Pavich has bred his first stakes winner. Bold Fantasy took the $100,000 Harris Farms Stakes by a head at the Fresno Fair Oct. 6, giving Pavich a moment he will always remember. “It was super exciting to see him finally win a stake,” Pavich said. “He’s always been a good horse, but at age 7 he seems to be in really good form.” The win was a long time coming for Pavich, who got his first introduction to the game as many do,  tagging along with his father to the races and morning workouts. “My father, John, was an owner and breeder in Northern California back in the ’80s,” Pavich said. “I was the son who followed him around, catching the bug at 4 or 5 years old.” As he aged and went off to school, Pavich “fell out of it,” but he always knew he would return. “With my dad I saw how... ...

Read online: By California Thoroughbred Magazine Graeme and Lu Thomas have the unique ability to lead multiple lives, seamlessly weaving them into one. They run breeding operations in both New Zealand and California, and they delve equally into the worlds of horse racing and show jumping. They keep everything balanced despite doing a majority of the work themselves—from foaling mares to selling yearlings—and logging extensive air miles. Born in Thames, New Zealand, Graeme Thomas was introduced to horses at just 4 years old. He became renowned for his skill and rode for the New Zealand Olympic Equestrian Team from 1966-71. But the United States beckoned, as Thomas fell in love with Lu, a New York-born, FEI World Cup-level rider he had met at a clinic in 1963. “I came over for two weeks in 1971, and I’m still trying to get back to New Zealand,” Thomas joked about the marriage. Now their time is divided, with October through December spent in New Zealand and the rest of the year spent... ...

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... ...

Read online: By California Thoroughbred Katie Fisher gave the question some thought, then summed herself up with: “Two farms and two kids. That’s me.” Fisher can hardly be defined so succinctly. She hails from a show horse and agricultural background, worked alongside mentor Tom Hudson at Magali Farms for 12 years, and now has her own pair of farms just miles apart. To top it all off, she is the mother of twin toddlers, helping her children to grow while simultaneously helping some 40 horses through the rehabilitation process. Fisher grew up showing Arabian horses and working at an Arabian farm. She was known at the Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center when Magali manager Tom Hudson put out the word that he needed an assistant. Hudson asked Dr. Ed Hamer if he knew anyone, and the veterinarian confirmed that he did, urging Hudson to hire Fisher straight away. The instant Fisher showed interest in Hudson’s proposal, he answered, “Great! See you tomorrow morning at 7.” Thus began a 12-year partnership.... ...

By Emily Shields, California Thoroughbred Jim Robbins jokingly laments that the worst thing that ever happened to him was having early success in the horse business. “That beginner’s luck, where the first one grabs you because they are a winner? That happened to me,” Robbins said. “It makes it look easy when that happens.” After mild success with his first horse, California-bred Por D.J., Robbins was hooked and has dabbled in the breeding and racing industry ever since. “It goes back a good 25 years,” he said. “I’ve always had one or two at a time, mostly low-level claiming horses.” Robbins and partners went to $62,500 to claim Wild Baby Girl, a debuting daughter of Misbah, during the Del Mar meet in 2007, Robbins recalling that “she showed a lot of heart in that maiden race.” The juvenile filly broke poorly, was bumped, and still rallied to win the race at 12-1 odds. Racing for her new connections, Wild Baby Girl wheeled back in the $250,000 Del Mar Debutante Stakes... ...

By California Thoroughbred Breeder Michael Pageler is making a splash in California by way of Arizona, where he resides. His California-bred Heck Yeah has earned $308,000 in his first five starts, which is even more impressive when factoring in that Pageler joined the sport on a whim just seven years ago. Pageler, who owned an electric company and retired in 2016, had been a lifelong fan and bettor but never imagined getting involved. “I didn’t know a whole lot about it,” he said. “I knew Bob Baedeker because he was on TVG a lot when I was watching. I found out that he was managing Live Your Dream Racing Stable, and that Bob Baffert was doing their training. I felt that you have to know somebody that knows something if you want to get started in this sport, and I thought, ‘Well, that sounds like two pretty good connections to get me going.’ ” Baedeker recommended horses to claim, with Baffert taking the reins once the Thoroughbreds changed hands. Live... ...

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... ...

By California Thoroughbred As a young child, Rob Riggio sat next to his father, Robert, with rapt attention on the television. Channel 56 played the nightly replays from Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, or Del Mar, and the younger Riggio loved every minute. “I was picking horses by the color,” he recalled. Ten years ago, the elder Riggio met E.W. “Buddy” Johnston, son of Ellwood B. Johnston owner of one of California’s premier breeding operations, Old English Rancho. “He bought in on a couple horses,” Riggio said, “and one of them was Norvsky.” The gelded California-bred son of Vronsky—Fimbrelith, by Flying Paster, became one of the grittiest campaigners in California. He made 25 starts, winning seven and finishing second eight times, to earn $616,444. The highlight of his career came when he won the $150,000 San Gabriel Stakes (G2T) over grade 1 winners Jeranimo and fellow Cal-bred The Usual Q.T. The younger Riggio had been involved in some smaller partnerships, but four years ago he decided to get back into the... ...

Read this in Issuu: From California Thoroughbred Eric Yohan is a man with big ideas and the determination to implement them. A scientist by trade, Yohan is now embracing the Thoroughbred industry, both with his equine health products and with his EF1 Farm, where 300 broodmares and two new stallions reside. Yohan, who hails from an Austrian family but who grew up in Ireland, had been around horses since childhood. He completed two PhDs before developing Flo-X, a product designed to destroy mold and pests, in 1998. The product took off, especially in Hawaii, where mold problems can be especially aggravating. Yohan took Flo-X off the market during a redevelopment and testing phase and continually heard from one man who wished for the product to return. “He told me that his animals needed them,” said Yohan. “His animals?” This revelation led to the development of Equine Formula 1 and 2, topical products for horses that help with fungus and a variety of other ailments. “It took me a long time... ...

By California Thoroughbred Rozamund Barclay can remember every horse she has ever bred, owned, or even worked with, and she has a certain level of affection for all of them. “I can honestly say I am fond of all the equines I have had the pleasure of raising, owning, purchasing, or caring for,” Barclay said, adding, “Obviously, some take up a bit more room than others in my heart.” Her list is lengthy, populated by horses such as North Pacific, Hi Fashioned, Estellara, Slew’s Charm, Commandress, Stay Positive, and Hot Gem. Her graded stakes-winning stallion Northern Causeway sits right at the top. His first foals will debut on the track this year. Barclay grew up in Portola Valley, Calif., where she first took riding lessons as a 6-yearold on a retired racehorse. Her family moved to Vashon Island in Washington, where she continued her equine schooling with vaulting, eventing, Western pleasure, and games. By the time she was 14, Barclay was teaching lessons and helping to break horses. “Pony Club... ...

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... ...

By Emily Shields Mickey “Mick” Ruis doesn’t want to be “just another horseman” in California. He has his sights set on playing at the same level as Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, with the twist that Ruis owns and trains all his own horses. With grade 1 winners Union Strike and Bolt d’Oro in the barn, Ruis is already on his way. With two new stallions and 25 broodmares in California, he looks to add even more to his Golden State footprint. Ruis sports a classic “pulled up by his own bootstraps” story. He left high school just before graduating to work at a construction company, quickly rising through the ranks despite his age. He sold his first company for $2.5 million with a five-year non-compete clause, and thought that would be enough money to get into horse racing. “The most expensive horse I had at the time was $10,000,” Ruis said. “That’s just the kind of stock we had.” After the five years Ruis was $1 million in debt.... ...

From California Thoroughbred They met at a bowling alley, playing in different leagues. Years later, Curt and Lila Lanning are still chasing sport together, but via a different avenue. The couple breeds their own Thoroughbreds and have recently enjoyed another stakes victory with Tribal Storm. Their success is a far cry from Curt Lanning’s humble beginnings in the sport. “Curt has always liked horses, and he would go to the track with his brothers,” Lila explained. “He bought a horse with a fellow from Illinois, but unfortunately that horse broke down, which turned him off for a while.” When Curt decided to try again, he and Lila dealt with what she calls the “chicken and the egg” scenario. “He wanted to buy a young horse, but you have to have a horse on the track to obtain an owner’s license,” she said. “But to get a horse on the track, you have to have an owner’s license.” The situation was sorted out, and Curt began stocking up on yearlings. “Then... ...

Read the full story in our magazine online: Five years ago Tom Bachman saw an opportunity to focus his business and chased that dream. He went from a 300-acre facility to 60 and continues to raise crops of pinot noir grapes. Once he reduced the size of his horse operation, Bachman began to enjoy a more pointed breeding enterprise, with success coming quickly in the form of a $300,000 Barretts select yearling sale-topper. “I’ve been doing this a long time, but she’s probably the best I’ve come forward with,” Bachman said, which is a testament to the dark bay filly by Bodemeister—North Freeway, by Jump Start. Bachman has already bred the likes of graded stakes-placed stakes winner Unusual Way, California Cup Sprint Handicap winner Red, multiple stakes winner Both Ways, and stakes-placed Wavy Lass. Both Unusual Way and Wavy Lass are out of the multiple stakes-placed Great Above mare Way Up. “I had retired that mare,” Bachman said of 24-year-old Way Up. “But I pulled her out of retirement because... ...

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, California Thoroughbred California Thoroughbred Breeders Association member Clay Murdock has come a long way since his days as a jockey in the bush-league racetracks of Idaho. He recently celebrated 30 years at Rancho San Miguel, where he is the general manager. A knowledgeable and dedicated horseman, Murdock is in charge of more than 400 Thoroughbreds and has proved himself exceedingly capable. When he was just 12 years old, Murdock learned how to exercise his father’s racehorses, joking that he was riding “in the bushes of the bush.” Although his father had a “real” job, father and son spent weekends racing Quarter Horses and a few Thoroughbreds in Idaho and Montana. Murdock was riding races as soon as he turned 16, and eventually he started training horses in his early 20s. “I had a desire to come to California,” Murdock recalled. He took a job galloping horses at Bay Meadows to get started in the Golden State, then was offered... ...

By Emily Shields The historic and scenic qualities of the property now called Riveroak Ranch are what first attracted Jack and Barbara Owens. They bought the land in California’s Stanislaus County in 1981 and named it Riveroak because the river oak trees that ring it are part of that charm. The large main barn that went up in the early 1900s remains in use today. A dairy for decades, the property under a prior owner was later converted to an Arabian and Quarter Horse facility. Over time the Owenses shifted its focus to Thoroughbreds. Eventually they retired some of their racemares to become broodmares. The mares shuttle to Kentucky in alternate years, returning to California to be foaled and bred back to California sires. Jack and Barbara race a few of their California-breds and sell some, the latter through Sue Greene’s Woodbridge Farm. Bill Morey trains their runners. “Our ranch is a boutique nursery and layup facility,” Jack said. “We do not stand stallions here, but there have been a... ...

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  ...

Read it in our magazine online: By California Thoroughbred Barbara Ranck-Perry can still recall when, as a kid showing horses in Montana, she asked her father for a Dutch warmblood to school over jumps. “He grabbed one of his racehorses and said, ‘Here, this one can’t run. Take him and teach him how to jump.’ ” That was the genesis of a racing and breeding operation that Barbara and her husband, Ron Perry, have today, anchored by the California stallion He Be Fire N Ice. Like many other children growing up in rural Montana, Barbara and her three sisters always had horses. “Our idea of getting together with friends was to jump on a horse and ride a half-mile to the neighbor’s house,” she recalled. “My mom would drag us all over the state, as well as Idaho and Washington for horse shows. I think their plan from day one was how to keep the girls out of trouble. The answer was horses.” While racehorses were beloved to Barbara’s father, Red,... ...

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... ...

By Emily Shields Stormy Hull has never known life without horses. The affable man is the second youngest of seven siblings, and virtually all of his youthful memories stem from the back of an equine. It should come as no surprise that the years of toiling with horses have finally resulted in a thoroughbred gem brighter than Hull had ever dreamed: multiple stakes winner California Diamond. “My horse-crazy sister wanted to go riding, but she had to babysit me,” Hull recalled. “It was either take me or stay home, so she would put me on the horse in front of her until I got big enough to sit behind. I had more miles on horseback by age 5 than most people have in their lifetime.” A horseback newspaper route is just one example of how Hull hardly ever let his feet touch the floor. “We grew up learning to ride Shetlands bareback,” he said. “I didn’t sit in a saddle until I was around 11. I remember when I was... ...

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... ...

See the full story featured in our printed magazine online By Emily Shields, condensed version: Francoise Dupuis The globe-trotting Francoise Dupuis, co-breeder of California-bred Masochistic, was born in Madagascar, spent time in Brazil, moved to France, tackled the East Coast of the United States, and eventually settled in her current home of California. On her worldly journey, one thing remained consistent: her irrefutable love of horses. Dupuis did most of her growing up in Maisons-Laftte, France, where she rode horses after school and on the weekends. A friend suggested she try the “fun” of galloping racehorses, and Dupuis fell in love, both with the sport and with her future husband, Jean- Pierre Dupuis. Te couple moved to America, with Francoise starting as a hot-walker while her husband rode over jumps in Camden, S.C. Francoise was meant to be a student studying American law after already studying the subject in France, but battles over her green card meant that she was forced to travel back and forth between America and France... ...

See the full story featured in our printed magazine online By Emily Shields, condensed version: John Barr John Barr is busier than the average man and wouldn’t have it any other way. As the president of the Oak Tree Racing Association, a California Thoroughbred Breeders Association board member, member of The Jockey Club, and a part of The Jockey Club Safety Committee, Barr is entrenched in all things equine around the clock. His precious “spare” time is spent as the treasurer of the Richard Nixon Foundation and keeping track of five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. All of this comes after he reduced his workload. “Back when I had my ranch, I had 60 head at one time,” Barr said. “I’ve cut back considerably over the years to just eight or nine horses.” The current pride and joy of Barr’s Oakcrest Stable is Bert’s Melody, a 5-year-old mare who won the $126,035 Fran’s Valentine Stakes May 28. She’s far from the first stakes star to shine under the Oakcrest banner; Bountiful Dreamer,... ...

See the full story featured in our printed magazine online By Emily Shields, condensed version: A STABLE WITH A LOT OF CALIFORNIA CHEEK The tale of California Thoroughbred Breeders Association member Joe Ciaglia is so interwoven with those of partners Frank and Sharon Alesia, Mike Mellen, and Mike Burns that it is easy to forget that Ciaglia has his own unique story to tell. The California businessman, who doggedly earned his way into the racing partnership, now has at least a piece of 50 horses. After grade I success with horses such as Weemissfrankie and Dance With Fate, Ciaglia is grabbing headlines with his sophomore stakes-winning duo, Pacific Heat and Cheekaboo. Before he was a horse owner, Ciaglia worked at a Ralph’s grocery store in Arcadia, often popping to work after a day at Santa Anita. Ciaglia and his wife, Stephanie, eventually met trainer Peter Eurton, who introduced them to Frank and Sharon Alesia. Although Ciaglia is a likeable type, Frank Alesia proceeded with caution, waiting six months to claim a horse with his... ...

See the full story featured in our printed magazine online   By Emily Shields, condensed version: Affable Joe LaCombe has been around some of the best in racing, including his family’s own 1997 Horse of the Year Favorite Trick. Now the San Diego resident is enjoying a newer venture — standing stallions in California — while still managing the racing and breeding strings of Joseph LaCombe Stables. The stable is named for Joseph LaCombe Sr., who resides in Florida at age 83 and is still in regular communication with his son. “He still tries to do too much,” the younger LaCombe lamented, “but we talk almost every day and review the horses.” The elder LaCombe entered the sport by way of a partner at his auditing company, and went to purchase a juvenile son of Phone Trick for $100,000 at the 1997 Ocala Breeders’Sales Company February sale. Turned over to trainer Patrick Byrne, Favorite Trick reeled off eight consecutive victories that season, including the $200,000 Hopeful Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga and the... ...

BY EMILY SHIELDS As longtime, staunch supporters of California racing, the Irvin family has had its share of stakes wins. Watching their Triple Crown trail-bound homebred Smokey Image storm to an impressive victory in the $245,000 California Cup Derby tops the list. Although family patriarch Robert Irvin passed away in 2015, his legacy lives on through the efforts of his wife, Betty, daughter Diane, and the exploits of Smokey Image. Robert Irvin was a lawyer-turned-businessman, acquiring Armored Transport Inc. and turning it into a nationwide livelihood. His passion, however, lay in both ranching and horses. In 1968 he purchased C-Punch Ranch in Lovelock, Nev. The fully functional cattle ranch and alfalfa farm has been operating since the mid-1800s, and now boasts an inn and casino in addition to its horse division. The Irvins tried Quarter Horse racing at first and found modest success, but the pull of Thoroughbred racing soon won them over. A $12,000 purchase, Tepee Party, went on to produce stakes winners Big Squaw and Indian School. Big... ...

By Emily Shields The adage goes, “How can you tell if a pilot is in the room? He’ll tell you.” While JetBlue pilot Burton Johnson still enjoys his job, he has a new passion to discuss to anyone who will listen: horse racing. His favorite racing-related topic? Ultimate Eagle, his young stallion whose first foals are yearlings this season. “I had no connection to horse racing,” Johnson said. “It’s the kind of sport where you are either born into it or you’re rich enough to get involved.” A friend of Johnson’s urged him to visit the racetrack and mentioned meeting up with another friend, Santa Anita-based trainer Mike Pender. “It turned out we already knew each other,” Johnson said. “I said, ‘I went to kindergarten with that guy!’ Sure enough, around the corner comes the Mike Pender I knew.” Johnson immediately took to the sport, falling madly in love and devouring all the information he could find. But when Pender asked why Johnson didn’t buy into a racehorse, Johnson replied,... ...

By Emily Shields Nadine Anderson’s journey from the Arabian horse show world into Thoroughbred racing and to then managing Brazeau Thoroughbred Farms is intricate and unfolds like a fairy tale. The Vancouver, Canada, native began her equine career in the Arabian horse show ring, where she had tremendous success. Now she owns Thoroughbreds, including the multiple stakes-winning California-bred Wild in the Saddle, who races for Anderson and Cheyenne Ortiz. “I had been a diehard show person, showing at the top national level,” Anderson said. “But really no matter how hard you show and win, you still can’t make money, you only spend it. You can’t eat a trophy or sell your ribbons, so I thought there’s got to be a better way to have my horses earn their own keep.” Anderson decided to embark on an ambitious campaign of racing her show horses. “It was unheard of at the time, but I put them in race training, where they did amazingly well,” she said. “I had a stallion, Serazim, that... ...