By Emily Shields
Nancy Probert has been a member of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association for so long that it’s almost part of her identity.
Although her parents had nothing to do with horses, an Irish grandmother is responsible for introducing Probert to the game.
“She couldn’t drive, but she liked to bet on horses,” Probert recalled. “I started liking the sport and became a CTBA member in 1963.”
Nancy also connected to horses via her mother, Dorothy Kitchen, a movie star who was in numerous 1920s westerns. Nancy’s Hollywood roots included her grandfather, Thomas H. Ince, a film industry leader who made more than 600 films.
But Nancy’s passion for horses didn’t really take flight until she met her late husband. Nancy caught a ride to Catalina Island on the seaplane of Dick Probert, a well-known pilot. Later Dick required
a stewardess for his plane, “Mother Goose.” He hired Nancy first, then married her.
They were living in Long Beach when Dick decided he needed room for his planes; Nancy had acquired a pair of broodmares. Eventually they were able to compromise in a way most couples can only
dream. In 1975 they purchased 160 acres in Annapolis, about 100 miles north of San Francisco just inland from the Northern California coast. The parcel boasted both a grass airstrip and plenty of room for horses.
Their Rancho de los Aviadores (Ranch of the Aviators) steadily saw them become one of the more prominent sellers at the California yearling sales.
“We were selling horses for maybe $1,500 apiece; then one day we sold a horse for $40,000,” Probert recalled. “It was really neat, and I felt like we could really make it.”
The big sale, which came via a colt at the 1983 Northern California yearling sale, was a far cry from Probert’s humble equine beginnings.
“I was looking for a riding horse originally,” she recalled. “Some guy had a few horses to sell, and so I bought a mare. I really knew nothing about horses, but she was a Thoroughbred named Rosegold.”
Probert bred Rosegold a few times, and although the mare died foaling shortly after the Proberts were married, Nancy’s interest in breeding flourished.
“When we moved up here, it was a wilderness area,” Probert said of the farm, a former apple orchard. “There was no pharmacy and barely any phone lines.” Her house is a 225-year-old converted
apple shed. It has been carefully rebuilt over the years to serve as living quarters.
Rancho de los Aviadores is home to 18 horses, which includes six broodmares and the mares’ yearlings and is “too many horses,” according to a laughing Probert. “And I’m expecting five or six new foals this year,” she admitted.
In addition to the airstrip, the farm’s sheer size was a lot of its appeal.
“We have a lot more room for them to run up here,” Probert said. “It made the difference in getting good horses, I think. They have two-acre pastures to move in.”
While Probert has never been deeply involved in the training and racing of horses, preferring to market them instead, her chief assistant, Sacha Campbell, has convinced her to break a colt this year.
“I’m letting her save one to keep this year,” Probert said. “Other than that, we sell everything we breed.”
Probert has been a supporter of the sales for years.
“Not only do I love the sales, but we had to do well there,” she said. “I never used Dick’s airplane money on the horses, so I had to make the finances work. Of course, it was cheaper to keep a horse in
those days.” Probert pointed out that a ton of alfalfa hay, which regularly runs around $350 these days, used to cost only $27.
Other high-priced horses the Proberts sold include Del Mar Flag, who brought $80,000 at the 2000 Barretts March 2-year-old sale, and Aloneinthestreet, who sold for $80,000 as a weanling at the
2008 Keeneland November mixed sale. The latter colt was a full brother to the multiple graded stakes-placed mare Allicansayis Wow, bred by the Proberts in partnership.
In addition to Allicansayis Wow and Aloneinthestreet, Nancy and Dick bred stakes-placed
Comic Queen from the same mare, Crown of Jewels, a daughter of Half a Year. She was a half sister to
grade I winner and millionaire Excellent Meeting.
Several stakes horses have come from the Proberts’ breeding operation, including multiple stakes winner Bon’s Joy and the stakes-placed winner Cagey Native. The latter became the dam of stakes winners Hayden Lake and Alyssa Lou. The filly Workin’ Lady Lee, another the Proberts bred with a partner, gave trainer Jeff Bonde only his second career stakes winner.
This season, Probert’s youngsters boast sires such as grade I winner Ultimate Eagle, dual grade III winner The Pamplemousse, and Lucky Pulpit, sire of the 2014 Horse of the Year California Chrome. With these pedigrees Rancho de los Aviadores figures to be a force at the sales once again.
Being a member of the CTBA has only enhanced her experience with breeding in California. So, too, has her friendship with CTBA Sales Coordinator Cookie Hackworth.
“Nancy is one of the most dedicated horsewomen I have known in my life,” Hackworth said. She always puts her horses first during hard financial times. She and her late husband, Dick, have always been big supporters of the CTBA’s Northern California Yearling and Horses of Racing Age Sale, conducted in August every year at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. When you connect with someone like Nancy and become her friend, then you are a friend for life.”
Sometimes Probert can’t believe how time has flown.
“I feel like we moved up here five years ago, but it’s been 43,” she said. And although the ride has been both tumultuous and fun, Probert wouldn’t have it any other way, although a few more stakes horses wouldn’t hurt.
“You just keep doing the best you can by putting the horses first,” she said, “and hope you get rewarded along the way.”