EQUINE CONNECTION LEADS TO SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS VENTURE
John and Jeannine Moroney (right) with friends Hank and Holly Komos on opening day of the Del Mar summer meet
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 run for the border” with Taco Bell, which had become a quickly expanding spicy addition to the world of fast food. Moroney felt the public would bite. He just needed the banker’s help.
That banker was John Waller, who like Moroney, loved racing. Moroney and Waller, who also was an avid horse breeder, became fast friends when attending the races at old Fairmount Park Race Track in Collinsville, Ill. The 99-year-old facility is across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.
Moroney was no stranger at the bank. Brought together through their love of horses, he and Waller met often, though not necessarily for business.
“He was almost 70 at the time,” Moroney recalled. “I would come into the bank, and it was funny to see him clear everyone out of his office so we could talk horses. I was kind of like a son to him in that way because his own children were not interested in racing.”
While their common bond didn’t seal the deal alone, it certainly helped. Though Waller died in 2020 at the age of 100, he witnessed the success he helped create.
Moroney bought his first horse from Waller, Missouri Ranger, for $750. The Illinois-bred bay won six of 33 starts.
Sixty-six in December, Moroney now lives in Union, a town southwest of St. Louis, the region where he has lived his entire life. He and his wife, Jeannine (a former Taco Bell employee he had hired a few years prior to their marriage), raised three children, Patrick, Caitlin, and Natalie.
“I told my wife that I would never have met her were it not for horse racing,” Moroney said.
And yes, Moroney loves tacos. He eats there every day.
Moroney has raced on a small scale for many years, “playing at the bottom level, obviously,” he said. Teaming with trainer Steve Manley on the Midwest circuit, they compete at tracks such as Fairmount (currently known as FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing), now defunct Arlington Park, Hawthorne, Prairie Meadows, Oaklawn Park, and Horseshoe Indianapolis. Moroney is looking forward to the recently sold FanDuel property’s full development as a racino by 2026 with its anticipated bump in prize money.
Escaping the sweltering St. Louis summer on a West Coast business trip, Moroney discovered Del Mar in 1992, he estimates. He began making an annual “pilgrimage” to the seaside oval every summer after that. Moroney later expanded his stays, first buying a condo in Vista, then purchasing a home in Carlsbad seven years ago. He now spends most of the Del Mar meet there.
“My son (Patrick) is handling most of the business now, which is great for me at this point in my life,” he said.
Moroney’s activity in the game jumped several notches since joining Lovingier’s ownership band. He owns a quarter interest in several horses bred at Lovacres Ranch, the most successful of them being stakes-placed Tapatio Leo, named for his grandson.
“I figured if I’m going to hang out there (at Del Mar), I might as well run some horses,” he said.
Tapatio Leo, owned by Moroney in partnership, wins at Oaklawn Park
A 4-year-old California-bred son of flagship sire Stay Thirsty out of the Rio Verde mare Sweet Lips Pooh, the dark bay gelding has won five times from nine starts for $268,339 in earnings. Tapatio Leo has not raced since finishing third in the Eclipse Stakes at Oaklawn Park in April. He had a setback in June but is slated to return to the work tab soon, according to Moroney.
Moroney is partners with Griffin Stables, Lovingier, Amanda Navarro, and Michael Ryan. The latter purchased Tapatio Leo for $110,000 from the Lovacres consignment at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton fall yearling sale.
“I’ve never had a horse like that,” said Moroney. “I’ve seen him run four times and he’s yet to win—all of his wins came when I wasn’t there to see him. I told Terry I must be bad luck for him. They should keep me away whenever he runs.”
Moroney is also in a partnership with Tapatio’s unraced 2-year-old full sister, Tapatio Leah.
He’s enthusiastic about 2-year-old filly Thirsty Mama, also by Stay Thirsty, second in the California Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Stakes at Del Mar Aug. 4. She has a win and three seconds in six tries this year. She cost $50,000 as a Fasig-Tipton fall yearling.
The sale-topping yearling colt Moroney bought Sept. 24, by Stay Thirsty out of the Ghostzapper mare My Fiona, is a full brother to Cal-bred champion Finneus — another Lovacres sire — and a half brother to stakes winning Fi Fi Pharaoh, a Cal-bred by American Pharaoh.
“I’m partnering with Terry on him,” explained Moroney, who said he expects to have a quarter interest once the partnership is finalized. “We’re keeping the horse in the family, so to speak.”
Moroney said he met Livonia about four years ago at Del Mar and told him he’d like an interest in some Cal-breds.
“He showed me around the ranch; we talked about what was available,” Moroney said. “I decided I’d like to get involved. I’m so glad to have gotten hooked up with Terry.”