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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 he’s 17.”
Harbor the Gold quickly became a hit as a stallion. His first crop included Noosa Beach, bred by Jeffery and Doris Harwood. Tat popular campaigner won 14 of 22 starts and earned $524,472. He is enshrined in Washington’s Racing Hall of Fame.
Noosa Beach’s dam, Julia Rose, ended up with the Christophersons for her subsequent foals. The unraced Basket Weave mare produced several full siblings to Noosa Beach, including stakes winners Music of My Soul and Noosito, for Bar C Racing. Julia Rose was named Washington’s Broodmare of the Year in 2013, and Music of My Soul was named a champion in Washington twice.
After Harbor the Gold’s early success with Noosa Beach, two years later he sired Carrabelle Harbor, a dark bay filly out of the Tiffany Ice mare Silver City Lilly. The Chris- tophersons, along with Desert Rose Racing, campaigned Carrabelle Harbor while Patti Harris trained. Carrabelle Harbor was a three-time Emerald Downs stakes winner, solidifying Harbor the Gold’s status as a must-use sire.
Harbor the Gold has gone on to be the perennial leading sire in the Northwest. He has had 196 winners to date, with progeny earnings of $8,350,167. He is responsible for 33 stakes winners, including California Diamond. A four-time stakes winner, the ill-fated Cal-bred out of Carrie’s a Jewel was named California’s champion 2-year- old male in 2016. He earned $475,970 before perishing in the fire at the San Luis Rey Downs training center.
Harbor the Gold has sired the winner of the prestigious Gottstein Futurity five times, with Bar C Racing Stable.
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