SIX-S TRANSLATES TO SUCCESS
Murrey and Sue Seidner brought their family into their businesses and racing stable
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 owned horses, initially in partnerships, since at least the early 1980s, according to his son Rick, who described his father as “a very quiet guy.”
Rick Seidner said the stable name came from the fact that there are six Seidners (including his two brothers and a sister) in the immediate family.
“If you say it over and over, ‘Six-S’ sounds like success,” Rick said.
Rick is a partner in Club-house Ride’s stallion career along with Murrey; Rick’s mother, Sue; and their long-time trainer and advisor Craig Lewis. According to Rick, acquiring Clubhouse Ride was just a case of good fortune.
Bred by Sidney and Jenny Craig from the Irish-bred Seeking the Gold mare Seeking Results, the Ken-tucky-bred Clubhouse Ride was offered as a 2-year-old at the Barretts January 2010 mixed sale.
“We are the definition of a small operation; $50,000 was our maximum spend for a horse,” Rick said.
Six-S homebred Ruff Ride, a daughter of Clubhouse Ride, prompted this paddock photo of Rick Lake, Brad Thompson, Ron Walton, Denise Walton, Rick Seidner, Todd Seidner, and Gary Woodward with jockey Juan Hernandez
As such, he and Lewis didn’t have much expectation they would land their prospect, one of five they had targeted at the sale. Clubhouse Ride’s second dam, Immediate Impact, had produced River Keen, a $1.6 million earner and winner of the Woodward Stakes (G1) and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) in 1999.
“Craig always is a very, very good judge of what a horse will sell for,” Rick said. “If he says a horse will go for between $150,000 to $200,000, it will probably sell for $175,000. He’s always right. And he thought Clubhouse Ride’s price would be around $120,000 to $150,000.
“We had a slight advantage that day, though. It was pouring down rain and people hadn’t done their homework. The horse was late in the sale. By the time he came out (to the sales ring), most of the buyers had left.
We bid $22,000 and that was enough to get him. Craig and I looked at each other and he said, ‘I think we’re in trouble. The horse must have a hole in him.’
“It was an incredible buy, especially for a Candy Ride. He wasn’t that well known at the time, but he was still a great stallion even back then. We got real lucky there.”
Clubhouse Ride has developed into one of California’s leading sires
There was no hole, but Clubhouse Ride was not precocious, taking six starts to break his maiden for Lewis. Racing for Six-S and a partner, Nikolas Petralia, he then won the Barretts Juvenile Stakes and was third in both the $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot (G3) and the $750,000 CashCall Futurity (G1).
Clubhouse Ride’s major successes didn’t come until his 5-and 6-year-old seasons. He won the Californian Stakes (G2) in 2013 at Hollywood Park and in 2014 in Santa Anita and placed in several other graded stakes. He ran second in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1), as well as the Gold Cup at Santa Anita (G1), San Antonio (G2), and Charles Town Classic (G2). He retired in early 2015 after 43 starts over five seasons with five wins and 19 placings.
“Boy, it was a great run,” said Rick, who witnessed all of Clubhouse Ride’s races. “He would have won more, but we were unfortunate because of the presence of another horse named Game On Dude.”
That Bob Baffert trainee put together a seven-race win streak in 2013, and Clubhouse Ride ran second in three of those stakes victories—the San Antonio, Santa Anita Handicap, and Charles Town Classic.
It was after his second Californian win that the Seidners considered a stud career for Clubhouse Ride. The family had owned a horse ranch in Bradbury when Rick was a youngster, but their breeding attempts hadn’t worked out very well and they sold the property after five years. Since then, they had only “dab-bled” in breeding, he said.
But after Lewis told them that his major clients Ben and Sally Warren were interested in supporting Clubhouse Ride as a sire, Seidner said, “The light-bulb went on. It was an easy decision to give this breeding opportunity another try.”
Clubhouse Ride makes it consecutive wins in the Californian Stakes in 2014 when the race moved to Santa Anita
Clubhouse Ride began his stud career at Harris Farms but moved to Legacy Ranch, located in San Joaquin County near Lodi, for the 2020 breeding season. He’s been popular from the start; he was the state’s leading second-and third-crop sire in 2019 and 2020 thanks in great part to the success of California-bred champion Warren’s Showtime. Trained by Lewis for the Warrens, the multiple graded stakes winner retired in 2022 with earnings of $843,431.
Alfred (Sonny) Pais’ homebred speedster Brickyard Ride retired in February as Clubhouse Ride’s top earner with $925,477 in earnings and three graded stakes wins among his 13 victories from 31 starts. There have been many others, among them graded stakes winner Chismosa, Warrens Candy Girl, Asada Fries, and Margot’s Boy.
Rick believes that the best is still to come for Clubhouse Ride, whose success has led to an improved book of mares.
We’ve got a lot of 2-year-olds coming up later this year. We are just getting rolling.”
— Rick Seidner
“Moving to Legacy was the best thing we could have done; it has been a great fit,” Rick said. “Pete and Evelyn Parrella have been tremendous to work with.
“(Ranch manager) Terry Knight and his wife Drew—we give them all the credit. They have worked so hard. (Club-house Ride) has had a couple of great seasons, but with some so-so mares. In the past two years, he’s gotten the best mares he’s ever had. We’ve got a lot of 2-year-olds coming up later this year. We are just getting rolling.”