OWNER WINS PLEASANTON STAKES WITH NORTHERN SALE GRADUATE MALA
Greg and Julie Avery named one horse for granddaughter Ellie
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 about how long that arrangement lasts—and whether it’s feasible.
“It’s pretty sad what’s going on up here,” he said of the local racing scene. “I think everyone is wondering what’s going to happen.”
Nationally, Northern California is regarded as minor league racing. But to guys like Avery, losing a track such as Golden Gate, and Bay Meadows before that, strips away the reason he was involved in horse ownership in the first place.
“We all want a nice horse,” he explained. “But what I really enjoy about racing are the people that are involved in it.”
Hanging out on the backstretch and chatting with trainers and their stable help, making friends with fellow owners and others in the grandstand—that’s the sort of thing Avery is going to miss.
“You meet so many great people at the track,” he said.
Avery, 63, lives with his wife, Julie, in Modesto, where they raised three children: Matthew, Courtney, and Cameron. They also have two grandchildren.
Greg and Julie are partners in a company that handles building and residential construction projects. They also own a small industrial park in Modesto.
Avery has been around Northern California tracks for most of his life. His father, Charles, had a small ranch outside Modesto where he bred Thoroughbreds that he raced locally. Greg remembers as a youngster piling into the family car for Saturday trips to the track, either Bay Meadows or Golden Gate. Their first primary trainer was Tom Knight, but they eventually found their way to Art Sherman’s barn.
I really appreciate Steve (Sherman). He’s like me; he’s not afraid to have a horse claimed away.” — Greg Avery
Thus, when Greg decided to get into the game as an owner more than 20 years ago, he naturally went to the Shermans. Nearly all the horses he has raced, either by himself or with partners, have been of the claiming variety.
“It was a dream of a lifetime” to have horses with Art Sherman, the man who trained California Chrome, Avery said. “I love Art; it was so much fun to be around him and the people in his barn.”
When Art retired a few years ago, his son Steve took over Avery’s small string, and it has worked out well. Avery currently has an ownership stake in eight to 10 horses, he said, “and that’s plenty.”
“I really appreciate Steve,” Avery said. “He’s like me; he’s not afraid to have a horse claimed away.”
Steve Sherman trained some horses for the famous A&M Records producer Jery Moss, a leader in the California horse breeding industry. After
Moss died in August 2023, Avery, Akin, and Sherman purchased a handful of the Moss horses privately. Among them was a California-bred Uncle Mo gelding, Mobou, as well as a pair of Moss’s Kentucky-bred geldings, Sir Grayson and Nolde.
Led by those three, the partnership won with 18 of 67 starts while earning $302,308 in 2024. Mobou and Sir Grayson were claimed away, but Nolde—winner of the 2019 Del Mar Derby (G2T) for Moss and an earner of nearly $400,000—remains in the Sherman stable.
Mala (outside) was awarded the victory in the Bay Meadows Juvenile Stakes at Pleasanton upon a disqualification
Also in 2024, Avery collected a rare stakes victory when Mala, purchased by Avery for $40,000 at the CTBA Northern California 2023 yearling sale, was awarded the $75,900 Bay Meadows Juvenile via disqualification at Pleasanton Dec. 15.
Named for a popular oceanfront sea-food restaurant/bistro in Lahaina, Maui, Mala is a chestnut colt by Union Rags out of the winning Smart Strike mare Witchy One. Mala won two of his five starts in 2024 with a second and a third while earning $77,903.
Avery has had an ownership interest in just one graded stakes winner. That came in March 2012 when Dynamic Host, a Dynaformer gelding that Art Sherman claimed for $40,000 a few months earlier, posted a mild upset in the $100,000 Tokyo City Cup (G3) at Santa Anita. But Avery, who was partners in the horse with Akin, Sherman, and Bill Wilbur, wasn’t there for it.
“I thought we were running for second that day,” he said. “Dynamic Host was running well, but there was a horse in there I didn’t think we had a chance to beat, so I didn’t go.”
Unlike his father, Avery has never wanted to breed horses, feeling it’s too expensive.
“My dad had the little ranch, so he could do it fairly cheaply.” However, Greg added, “If I had a really great mare, I’d probably go ahead and breed her.”
One of the horses he bought from the Moss estate has proven to be costly since. Super Ellie is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Gormley that Avery named after his granddaughter. The gray filly hasn’t won much on the track, but that’s secondary.
“That’s one you should never do—name a horse after a grandchild,” Avery laughed. “I’ve lost her twice to claims and twice I’ve had to claim her back. It’s expensive.”