City Zip – Helena Bay (GB), by Johannesburg
$2,975,500-EARNER
Eclipse Award Finalist
$1 MILLION
PACIFIC CLASSIC (G1) WINNER
Over Arrogate
$6 MILLION
BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC (G1)
2nd to Gun Runner
FIRST FOUR CROPS
22 Stakes Winners
7 Graded Stakes Winners
$19 Million in Progeny Earnings
$7,500 LFSN
When California Cup Day was launched 36 years ago, borrowing from the structure of the Maryland Million, the goal was to honor and celebrate Toroughbreds bred in the Golden State.
Tis year’s renewal, held at Santa Anita on Saturday, Jan. 17, provided a diverse collection of storylines that refected the passion and performance of California breeding.
With stakes, allowance races, maiden allowances and a maiden claiming, the Cal Cup card ofered opportunities for every level.
Tere was the sentimental victory of maiden Start the Ride in the $175,000 California Chrome Cal Cup Derby, bred by owner Harris Farms, whose patriarch, John Harris, died last July.
Vodka Vodka won the $175,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic presented by City National Bank. Tat gave breeders Jerry and Connie Baker another stakes winner from broodmare Margie’s Minute to go with graded victress Om N Joy, who might ap-
pear next in the B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile (G1).
Also keeping the breeder-owner path to Cal Cup glory were B&B Zietz Stables’ Man O Rose in the $125,000 Don Valpredo Cal Cup Sprint, My Way Racing’s Cee Drew in the $175,000 Leigh Ann Howard Cal Cup Oaks, and Larry and Marianne Williams’ Grand Slam Smile in the $125,000 Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf Sprint presented by John Deere.
Enough cannot be said about Grand Slam Smile. Te now 5-yearold daughter of Smiling Tiger was the Cal-bred 2-year-old champion flly in 2023 and the Cal-bred 3-year-old champion flly in 2024. In 17 career starts, she has 10 wins, eight of them in stakes. Tis was her second Cal Cup victory, as she won the 2024 Leigh Ann Howard Cal Cup Oaks.
Grand Slam Smile was the last foal of her dam, the prolifc Grand Slam mare Royal Grand Slam. Te mare produced fve other six-fgure earners: Slam Dunk Sermon ($352,386); stakes winners Royal ’n
Rando ($246,166) and Luck’s Royal Flush $268,345); and stakes-placed Late ’n Left ($222,420) and Grand Yodeler ($172,010).
Grand Slam Smile was previously based in Northern California with trainer Steve Specht, who retired last year and handed of the mare to Sean McCarthy. McCarthy now has four wins with her in six starts.
Northern California connections did well at Cal Cup, with trainer Aggie Ordonez continuing her personal breakout with Vodka Vodka’s win. Trainer Bill McLean lit up the tote board when Famous Forza sped to a maiden win on the turf at odds of 67-1, giving French jockey Cesar Belmont his frst local win.
Prominent California breeders Richard Barton Enterprises, Rancho San Miguel, Nick Alexander, and the Williamses also found their way into the winner’s circle in Cal Cup undercard races.
Total purse money distributed on Cal Cup Day was slightly more than $1 million, and total all-sources handle was more than $9.5 million.
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The offcial magazine of California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, a non-proft corporation dedicated to the production of better Thoroughbred horses for better Thoroughbred racing, published by Blood-Horse, LLC.
Opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily refect policies of the CTBA or this magazine. Publication of any material originating herein is expressly forbidden without frst obtaining written permission from California Thoroughbred. All advertising copy is submitted subject to approval. We reserve the right to reject any copy that is misleading or that does not meet with the standards set by the publication.
Acknowledgment: Statistics in this publication relating to results of races in North America are compiled by the Daily Racing Form Charts by special arrangement with Daily Racing Form Inc., the copyright owners of said charts. Reproduction forbidden.
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AIR FORCE RED
Air Force Blue – Mesana, by Mizzen Mast
Fee: $2,500 LFG
KING OF JAZZ (ARG)
Giant’s Causeway – Kiss Me Sweet (ARG), by Lode
Fee: $1,000 LFG
ORIGINAIRE (IRE)
Zofany (IRE) - Polly Perkins (IRE) by Pivotal (GB)
Fee: Complimentary
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Fee: $1,500 LFSN
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Fee: $2,500 LFG
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Fee: $2,500 LFSN
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Express Kid, a 3-year-old California-bred stakes-winning son of Bodexpress—Sensationalize, by Street Sense, sold for $800,000 in a Fasig-Tipton digital fash sale Jan. 9. He was the only ofering in the sale.
Paramount Sales consigned Express Kid to the sale as agent, selling him to Brad Kleven. Daily Racing Form reported that following the sale, Express Kid was transferred from trainer Wade Rarick to Justin Evans.
Rarick had trained Express Kid for Steve Haahr, who had bought the colt for $2,000 at the 2024 Arizona Toroughbred Breeders’ Association fall mixed sale. Richard Barton Enterprises bred Express Kid.
Express Bid earned 10 qualifying point toward a berth in the 2026 Kentucky Derby (G1) when he captured the $300,000 Remington Springboard Mile Dec. 20 at 34-1. He had won two of four previous starts, one at Canterbury Park and another at Remington Park, for total earnings of $236,902.
John Sadler has been elected to succeed Eoin Harty as president of the California Toroughbred Trainers board of directors. Harty has served as president since 2019 and will remain a director.
Te seven-member CTT board also includes Gloria Haley as frst vice president, Sean McCarthy as second vice president, Blaine Wright as treasurer, Val Brinkerhof, and Ron Ellis. Sadler, the trainer of such horses as champions Flightline and Accelerate, has previously served as a director or president on several occasions, most recently from 2010-13.
“Eoin deserves everyone’s gratitude for his commitment as president for so many years and as a director before then,” Sadler said. “I’m aiming to foster a sense of improved unity with other stakeholders going forward.”
Tomas Hudnut and Damascus Castellanos have been reappointed to the California Horse Racing Board by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Tey have served on the CHRB since 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Hudnut was president and chief executive ofcer at Harvard-Westlake School from 1987-2013. He was headmaster at Te Branston School from 1982-87. Castellanos has been a secretary-treasurer and principal ofcer at Teamsters Union Local 495 since 2021, where he was a business representative from 2005-21. He was a business representative at Teamsters Union Local 630 from 2001-12. Castellanos is also a member of the California Toroughbred Horseman’s Foundation.
Te 2026 California stallion register page for California leading sire Grazen incorrectly listed a considerations line that should not have been included. Grazen, who led all sires of California-conceived foals in 2025 for third consecutive year, is standing the 2026 season for $6,000 live foal guarantee at Eclipse Toroughbred Farm in Buellton.
■ Smooth Like Strait Foal Born in California
Smooth Like Strait, who moved to California this past fall, was represented Jan. 18 by his frst 2026 foal born in California. The colt, out of the Declaration of War mare Chloe’s Crown, was foaled at Eclipse Thoroughbred Farm in Buellton, where Smooth Like Strait now stands.
Cannon Thoroughbreds, who bred and raced Chloe’s Crown, bred the youngster and will breed the mare back to Smooth Like Strait. Cannon Thoroughbred also bred and raced Smooth Like Strait, and Michael McCarthy trained both sire and dam.
Smooth Like Strait began his stud career in Kentucky. The grade 1-winning son of Midnight Lute—Smooth As Usual, by Flower Alley, earned $1,813,863. His frst foals are yearlings of 2026.
Names for foals of 2024 must be claimed. After Feb. 1, a naming fee of $110 will apply.
Annual registration of stallions is due at a fee of $1,250.
Deadline to nominate California-bred/ California-sired 2-year-olds (foals of 2024) to the Golden State Series; $300 fee applies.
Andre Aghili Anderson, CA
Connie Belshay Graham, WA
Rozana Foxx Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Jeffrey Tyler Encinitas, CA
Trevor Denman, who for decades called races at Southern California tracks, was honored with a Special Eclipse Award for Career Excellence during the Eclipse Award ceremony in Florida Jan. 22.
“What a wonderful way to end a 53-year career,” said Denman when the award was announced a couple of weeks before the ceremony. “I am so honored to receive this award and will treasure it forever. I wish to thank Alan Balch of Santa Anita and Joe Harper of Del Mar for giving an unknown kid a chance to call at such prestigious tracks back in 1983. I also thank all the fans for their tremendous support over the years.”
Born in South Africa, Denman began
calling races at age 18 in 1971 in his native country. He auditioned for Santa Anita management and started there with the Oak Tree meeting in 1983 before eventually stepping into the position
at the winter Santa Anita meeting. Denman became so popular that he also became the race caller at Hollywood Park, Del Mar, and Pomona. He continued at Santa Anita until 2015 and at Del Mar through 2024.
Denman’s South African accent coupled with his uncanny ability to see how a race was developing made him a favorite nationwide. His iconic call of Zenyatta’s 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) win at Santa Anita has gone down in racing history: “Tis is unbelievable, Zenyatta, what a performance, we’ll never forget.”
Denman also called races in the Bay Area and on the East Coast. He lives in retirement with his wife, Robin, on their farm in Minnesota.
Though Jim Cassidy, who died Jan. 21 at age 80, could train any kind of horse, his affnity with California-breds made him a standout. In the frst decade of the 21st century, Cassidy trained three Cal-bred millionaires: Moscow Burning, Evening Jewel, and The Usual Q. T.
Graded stakes winner Moscow Burning was a particular challenge and proved Cassidy’s good horsemanship. A $25,000 claim, she had her quirks.
“She was crazy,” Cassidy said. “I used to jog on foot with her in the morning from the gap down the track to get her to go. She wouldn’t go with the pony. She wouldn’t back up. I had three different riders on her, and they were all scared to death of her.”
Cassidy discovered that jockey Jorge Alvarez could get along with Moscow Burning. She went on to earn a total of $1,417,800 and titles as the 2004 Cal-bred Horse of the Year, older female, and turf horse, and 2006 older female.
Cassidy trained another Cal-bred Horse of the Year in Evening Jewel, an earner of $1,221,399. That flly earned her title in 2010, the same year she was named champion 3-year-old female.
The previous year, Cassidy-trained The Usual Q. T., who banked a total of $1,531,240, was voted champion Cal-bred 3-year-old male and won the older male and turf horse titles in 2010. Cassidy in 2010 was also named California trainer of the year.
Born in New York City, Cassidy began with show horses, transitioning to racehorses and then getting his trainer’s license in 1975. He worked as an assistant to such conditioners as Joe Cantey, Frank Whitely, and Charles Sanborne before going out on his own. Cassidy moved to California in 1993 and during his career won 442 races and $30,715,582 in purse earnings.
Cassidy also served as president of California Thoroughbred Trainers, initially in 2009 and again from 2012-19. His other good horses included millionaire Ticker Tape.
“Jim just loved horses—period,” said Alan Balch, executive director of CTT. “From the frst time I met him, that’s what stood out to me. And he loved the Yankees—he always wore that cap proudly.”
Former jockey Rudy Campas, who piloted many California-breds to stakes victories, died in mid-December at age 85.
A native of Texas, Campas rode from 1958-87, winning more than 1,200 races. While he plied his trade throughout California, he did particularly well at the Pomona fair, becoming among the top 10 all-time jockeys at that racetrack.
At Del Mar, Campas won two editions of the Del Mar Oaks, on Calbred Pie Queen in 1959 and Greta in 1968. He also won aboard Calbreds Black Sheep in the 1962 San Vicente Handicap, Perizade in the 1962 Santa Monica Handicap, and Shimmering Star in the 1963 Las Flores Handicap at Santa Anita and on Cal-breds Now Pending in the 1977 Wilshire Handicap (G3) and Bushel-N-Peck in the 1961 Honeymoon Handicap at Hollywood Park.
Gregg McCarron, who as a jockey won more than 2,400 races and was the brother of Hall of Fame rider Chris McCarron, died Jan. 8 on his Maryland farm after suffering a heart attack. He was 77.
Riding for 24 years, Massachusetts native Gregg began his career at Suffolk Downs in Boston in 1969 and concluded it in Maryland in 1993. He rode primarily in New England, New York, and Maryland, and upon retirement trained horses for a while and was later a commentator for NBC Sports. His major winners included On the Sly, Bounding Basque, and Broom Dance.
“Gregg led me to my career as a jockey, and he was there for me every step of the way,” Chris said. “He was my idol, and I always tried to emulate everything he did. He mentored me in my formative years, and I would not have had the career I did without him in my life.”
California-bred BOOZER, named because he walked like he was drunk as a yearling, captured the $102,070 Sensational Star Stakes at Santa Anita Feb. 27, 2016. Fourth early down Santa Anita’s hillside turf course of about 61⁄2 furlongs, Boozer edged Richard’s Boy by a head in 1:13.03. Gary Stevens rode Boozer for trainer Mark Glatt and owners Allan and Saundra Kirkwood. Madeline Auerbach, Barry Abrams, Vincenzo Loverso, Chris Perez, and Huston Racing bred the 6-year-old gelded son of Unusual Heat—Kitty and Boo, by Cape Canaveral. “He loves this turf course,” said Stevens. “When we crossed the dirt, I pushed the button and he just ground it out. He’s a lot of fun to ride—he’s a true professional.” Winner of the 2014 California Flag Handicap, Boozer went on to annex the 2016 Bertrando Stakes at Los Alamitos and earned a total of $604,096.
Though the Las Virgenes Stakes has been downgraded to listed status for 2026, 25 years ago it was a grade 1 event. California-bred GOLDEN BALLET, under jockey Chris McCarron, went off as the 2-5 favorite Feb. 10, 2001, having scored in the Santa Ynez Stakes (G2) the previous month. Golden Ballet led throughout the one-mile Las Virgenes, which carried a $200,000 purse, defeating Two Item Limit by 21⁄2 lengths in 1:36.89. Jenine
Sahadi trained Golden Ballet for owners Heiligbrodt Racing Stable and Team Valor. Vladimir Popovich and Jerry Dutton bred the daughter of Moscow Ballet— Golden Jewel Box, by Slew o’ Gold. Golden Ballet earned a total of $732,145, adding the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) and Railbird Stakes (G2) and never fnishing worse than third in 10 starts. As a broodmare, she produced 2010 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Drosselmeyer and stakes winner Stage Luck.
California-bred LIGHTNING MANDATE put together backto-back stakes victories at Santa Anita in February 1976. First up was the Feb. 7 San Pasqual Handicap at 11⁄16 miles, followed by the Feb. 22 San Antonio Stakes at 11⁄8 miles. Sandy Hawley rode Lightning Mandate in the San Pasqual, as they defeated Guards Up by four lengths in 1:482⁄5 on a sloppy track. Angel Cordero Jr. took over for the San Antonio, for a two-length drubbing of Dancing Papa in 1:481⁄5 on a fast track. Gary Jones trained Lightning Mandate for his father, Farrell, who owned the 5-year-old with Golden Eagle Farm. Farrell, who had been a multiple leading trainer at California tracks, bred Lightning Mandate, a son of Mandate— Lightning Bam, by Limelight, in partnership with Mrs. N. Z. McLeod. Earlier, Lightning Mandate won three stakes in 1974 and the 1975 Malibu Stakes (G2).
Lightning Mandate wins the San Pasqual
The following claiming levels for California owners premiums and stallion awards are currently in effect: SANTA ANITA PARK / $40,000
To further assist the membership of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association (CTBA) and subscribers of its offcial publication, California Thoroughbred, this monthly editorial page provides readers with updates about the association’s current policies, latest news, and upcoming events in the Golden State.
Two days after California-bred California Chrome won the Kentucky Derby (gr. I), another Derby winner, jockey Mario Gutierrez, was honored in Sacramento.
Te Latino Spirit Awards, established in 2002, are held in conjunction with Cinco de Mayo. Gutierrez, who piloted I’ll Have Another to win the 2012 Kentucky Derby, was one of 10 honored this year by the California Senate and Assembly. California Gov. Jerry Brown attended the dinner held the night before in conjunction with the awards.
Te timing couldn’t have been better, as many wanted to talk about the state’s own California Chrome. Tis is the frst time that the Latino Spirit Awards have honored a racing fgure. Gutierrez’s photo will hang in the Capitol Rotunda for a month along with the other honorees.
Gutierrez was born in Mexico and initially began his riding career in his native country. He later was a huge success at Hastings Racecourse in Canada before switching his tack to Southern California.
Stallion registration deadline
Paul Reddam, owner of I’ll Have Another, noticed the youngster’s ability and suggested him to trainer Doug O’Neill for I’ll Have Another in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (gr. II) at Santa Anita. Gutierrez never lost on the colt in four starts—the Lewis, Santa Anita Derby (gr. I), Kentucky Derby, and Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
Golden State Series nomination deadline for 2024 foals
In the run-up to California Chrome’s successful victory in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I), the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association spread the word via a colorful button. With a tagline: “Got Chrome? California does! It pays to be Cal-bred” the CTBA promoted California Chrome and the California breeding industry.
People who “liked” the CTBA’s Facebook page received one of the buttons, as did some lucky fans who focked to California Chrome’s fnal work at Los Alamitos April 26.
Then it was off to Kentucky, where CTBA’s Doug Burge and several board members also passed out buttons on the famed Churchill Downs backstretch. The buttons proved so popular that they also passed them out at Pimlico before the Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
CTBA MEMBERS
Syd Belzberg (Budget Stables) Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Nels Erickson Reno, NV
Thomas Glosser Whittier, CA
Mary Lou Griffin Buckley, WA
Tiffany Teresi, Dawn Howe, and Mary Valente (Partnership) Acampo, CA
Chris and Jena Raymer Catoosa, OK
Breeders’ Cup late nomination deadline for 2025 foals
Charles Robin Brentwood, CA
Grazen – Sunday Dress, by General Meetng
Leading 3rd-Crop California Sire (Cumulatve)
By % Stakes Winners (20%) & Stakes Horses (20%)
By Avg. Earnings per Runner: $84,202
Co-Leader by Number of Stakes Winners
• TOUGH SUNDAY winner of the Sensatonal Star Stakes at Santa Anita, four tmes stakes placed, twice Graded including 2nd in the Grade 3 Midnight Lute Stakes.
•He is the Sire of SHEA BRENNAN ($287,530), winner of the King Glorious Stakes and placed in fve stakes at 2 and 3, including the California Chrome Cal Cup Derby by a neck (but was placed 2nd by disqualifcaton) and 2nd to Golden State Juvenile winner SPEEDY WILSON
• SPEEDY WILSON ( $330,488) Winner of the Golden State Juvenile at 2, and the Real Good Deal Stakes at 3, in Del Mar, 3rd place in the G1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita 12/28/25 earning a 100 Beyers Speed Ratng, 2nd in the Don Valpredo CalCup Sprint Stakes 1/17/2026
•Out of SUNDAY DRESS, a proven producer from SUNDAY RULES / SUDDEN SUNDAY family.
2026 FEE: $4,000 LFG
CALIFORNIA’S ONLY SIRE OF A 2025 GRADE 1 STAKES WINNER
LOVESICK BLUES – Winner, G1 Bing Crosby S. (Del Mar)
• Leading California-Based Stakes Sire 2023 - 2024 - 2025
• $30+ Million Progeny Earnings
• 29 Stakes Winners | 42 Stakes Horses | 5 GSW
•Perennial Leading Sire in AEI
•Average Earnings per starter $99,732
2026 FEE: $6,000 LFG
SQUARE EDDIE – BAS, by FLOWER ALLEY
Undefeated winner on dirt and turf by 21 lengths.
Blazing Speed: 6 furlongs in 1:07.50! First-crop yearlings in 2026.
$3,000 LFSN
CLUBHOUSE RIDE – BRICKYARD HELEN, by SOUTHERN IMAGE
Speedy multiple graded stakes winner from the Candy Ride (Arg) sire line earned $925,477. First foals ar riving in 2026.
$4,000 LFSN
WAR FRONT – PLAYA MAYA, by ARCH
Uncle Mo half-brother boasts $94,000 average earnings/starter and 19% black-type performers. First-crop Cal-breds race in 2026.
$3,000 LFSN
NIAGARA FALLS
GIANT’S CAUSEWAY – ISTIKBAL, by KINGMAMBO
Stakes-caliber Giant’s Causeway sire represents a genetic gold mine: More than 90 stakes horses under his frst four dams.
$2,500 LFSN
EMPIRE MAKER – PURELY HOT, by PURE PRIZE
Grade 1 winner at 2 has highest 2025 median yearlingsalesresultsamongactiveCaliforniasires. First-crop 2-year-olds in 2026.
$6,000 LFSN
GIANT'S CAUSEWAY – GETAWAY GIRL, by SILVER DEPUTY
Grade 3 winner out of half-sister to Grade 1 sires Ghostzapper and City Zip delivers durability. Top 5 Runners: 54 starts average.
$2,500 LFSN
COLLECTED CITY ZIP – HELENA BAY (GB), by JOHANNESBURG
California’s New #1 Sire!
Pacifc Classic (G1) winner has 22 stakes winners ― seven graded ― in frst four crops.
$7,500 LFSN
MO FORZA
UNCLE MO – INFLAMED, by UNUSUAL HEAT
Grade 1-winning millionaire is #1 son of Uncle Mo standing outside Kentucky. Already the sire of two maiden winners in 2026!
$5,000 LFSN
SIR PRANCEALOT (IRE)
TAMAYUZ (GB) – MONA EM (IRE), by CATRAIL
Proven elite sire has global progeny earnings of $27 million. His 39 stakes performers include seven international G1/G2 winners.
$6,000 LFSN
THE STREET FIGHTER
STREET BOSS – SILVER SWALLOW, by ALPHABET SOUP
Versatile black-type performer by a multiple Grade 1 sire out of a multiple Grade 1 dam. First-crop 2-year-olds in 2026.
$2,500 LFSN
BY TRACY GANTZ
After Vodka Vodka won the Jan. 17 Unusual Heat Turf Classic presented by City National Bank, those celebrating in the winner’s circle sang “Happy Birthday” to trainer Aggie Ordonez—except it wasn’t her birthday.
Blame it on jockey Kent Desormeaux.
“Tis year on my birthday we lost a tough head bob,” Ordonez said. “Today he made up for it. When he hopped of, he said, ‘Happy Birthday.’ I’ll take it.”
It’s always special to Ordonez when Desormeaux rides horses for her. Her father, the late former jockey Pete Anderson, had pointed out Desormeaux’s talent to Aggie many years ago.
“When I was 18 years
old, I came home from high school,” Aggie recalled. “My dad was sitting in the armchair, and he said, ‘Tey’re running the big races at Maryland, and there’s this new kid that’s just outta sight—he can really ride, Kent Desormeaux.’ ”
Tus, it is only ftting that Desormeaux is riding Vodka Vodka and the gelding’s half sister, graded stakes winner Om N Joy, for Ordonez.
While it’s going to take Vodka Vodka some time to live up to his little sister’s
accomplishments, he took a big step toward that goal in the Unusual Heat, only his second stakes attempt.
Ordonez owns Vodka Vodka in partnership with Jerry and Connie Baker, who bred him, and Mclean Racing Stables, William Gorman, Anthony and Rachel Parsons, and Delbert Williams. Tey weren’t the only ones who liked Vodka Vodka in the 1 1/8-mile Unusual Heat, as he went favored at 9-10.
Stamp My Passport scampered to the lead. Vodka Vodka, breaking from the outside post, raced in second behind the pacesetter’s early fractions of :23.58 and :48.02, while the mare Stop Digging was also close along the rail.
“I had a really long hold, and I wanted to shorten my hands up just to get ready for when I needed to encourage him,” Desormeaux said. “And he just jumped forward.”
Vodka Vodka drew even with Stamp My Passport in the second turn, taking over as they turned for home. Hey Jessie put on a big late run from the outside, but Vodka Vodka held of the flly and won by a half-length in 1:48.12. Stamp My Passport held on for third.
Unable to win in his frst fve races while still a colt, Vodka Vodka had some time of from mid-2024 to mid-2025 and was gelded. Since then the 5-year-old has won four of six races.
“He’s been a better horse since he’s been gelded,” Ordonez said. “With the time of, he’s matured, and he’s sound as a bell right now.”
Te Bakers bred their Hard Spun mare Margie’s Minute to Stay Tirsty to get Vodka Vodka. Connie explained the origin of the name.
“My husband orders vodka, and we went into, I think, the Derby restaurant,” she said. “Tey asked him what he would like to drink, and he said, ‘I’ll have a vodka.’ She said, ‘What would you like with your vodka?’ He said, ‘Vodka,’ and the woman said, ‘So you’ll have a vodka vodka?’ And he said, ‘Yes I will.’ So that’s how he got his name.”
A Graded stakes winner on dirt and turf at 2 Grade 1 winner on dirt and turf at 3—won the Travers S. (G1) and Belmont Derby Inv. S. (G1)
More than $2.1 million in earnings.
10 STAKES HORSES,
including Les Is Best, runner-up in this year’s Gowell S. at Turfway Park, and graded stakes-placed Faith Understood, 3rd in the Honeymoon S. (G3) at Santa Anita.
2 STAKES WINNERS—
G1 winners in Puerto Rico include SMOKEN BOY, who also won the Caesars H. at Horseshoe Indianapolis, and EL CATOLICO.
More Than Ready - Song of Bernadette, by Bernardini Jonny Hilvers (559) 903-4391 jonnyhilvers@harrisfarms.com
BY TRACY GANTZ
Bruce Zietz has such dedication to the science of breeding and racing Toroughbreds that he rode hunter-jumpers for 15 years.
“I was 38 and I wanted to learn about the horse, how you take care of the horse, and so on,” Zietz said. “My horse was a 17-hand, 11 2-inch gelding. I had to get on a mounting block.”
Tese days, Zietz can revel in the fruits of his decades of bloodline study from ground level. Man O Rose, a homebred with several generations of Zietz breeding behind him, crushed his competition in the $125,000 Don Valpredo California Cup
Sprint Stakes Jan. 17 at Santa Anita.
While Man O Rose had never before triumphed by the nine lengths he put on second-place Drop Um, he is no stranger to big margins. In 2024, he won the E.B. Johnston Stakes by eight lengths and an allowance/optional claimer by 71⁄2 lengths.
“I didn’t really expect that,” said Zietz, “though I did expect him to win.”
Initially, Man O Rose was to meet Big City Lights in the six-furlong Sprint. Big
City Lights won the race in 2025 and had defeated Man O Rose in the 2024 Cary Grant Stakes the only time they had faced each other. However, Big City Lights grabbed a quarter during training and had to be scratched.
Tat left three rivals for Man O Rose, a 6-year-old four-time stakes winner, with three of those coming consecutively in 2025. Bettors favored him at 4-5 over stakes winner and graded stakes-placed Speedy Wilson and multiple stakes-placed Book Smart, both at 2.30-1.
Jockey Edwin Maldonado knows Man O Rose well, having ridden him in all but his frst two starts. Man O Rose can be tricky, with trainer Jef Mullins making no secret over the fact that the gelding does not like close quarters on the rail.
“Te key to that horse is just getting him to let go of the bridle and cruise along,” Mullins said.
Tus, when the gate opened, Maldonado let Man O Rose take him right to the front. None of the other three could get closer than a length at any point. Man O Rose simply widened his margin at every call, with a 11⁄2-length advantage after a half-mile in :44.10 and a four-length lead in midstretch. By the time he hit the wire, Man O Rose stretched out to nine lengths and stopped the timer in 1:08.68. Book Smart fnished third, 21 2 lengths behind Drop Um and a nose in front of Speedy Wilson.
“He’s a tough dude,” said Maldonado. “I’m just a passenger on this horse. He just wants to do it his way, and he is going to do it his way. He is getting better. He showed that he can run on turf, a mile, or short. He’s really a nice horse.”
A son of California sire Stanford, Man O Rose, an earner of $572,965, is out of Zietz’s homebred Kathleen Rose. Zietz pointed out that Maldonado also rode the dam. Zietz still vividly recalls Kathleen Rose’s neck loss to Parranda in the 2014 Royal Heroine Stakes (G2T), noting that Parranda earned more than $2 million—“she could run.” Kathleen Rose, a daughter of Good Journey, placed in three other stakes as well, earning a total of $342,238.
Out of Multiple SW/Twice Graded Stakes Placed Winner of $482,007 – Sister to KATHMANBLU, multiple GSW of $584,327
In conjunction with CTBA incentives offered, CTBA active members can also take advantage of incentives offered by Dehesa Farms to breed to Corporal for the 2026 breeding season.
For the 2026 breeding season, the following offers on approved mares will be extended to owners breeding to Corporal:
• 1st mare will receive $1000 off the stud fee.
• 2nd mare will receive $1500 off the stud fee.
• 3rd mare will receive $2,000 off the stud fee.
CORPORAL a $1,150,000 Keenland September Yearling raced for Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith. Trained by Brad Cox. BY THE LEADING SIRE LIFETIME BY A.E.I. AND HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE GUN RUNNER
2026 FEE: $5,000 LF
• 2nd dam Abba Gold Stakes Placed Winner of $179,732
• 3rd dam VALIANT JEWEL Stakes Winner of $296,680
• Producers of Producers
Any approved Black Type or Black Type producing mares will receive 50% off the regular stud fee.
Additional discounts offered by Dehesa Farms for mares booked to Corporal in 2026 will be as follows:
• $100 discount on foaling fee
• $2/day reduction off the regular board rate
DEHESA FARMS LLC
(Formerly Easterbrook Livestock Management) at San Miguel, California
Shane Easterbrook | (805) 610-9861 | dehesafarms@gmail.com www.dehesafarms.com
BY JACK SHINAR
John Harris died in July, but his spirit was certainly present at Santa Anita Jan. 17 when the Harris Farms colt Start the Ride triumphed in the $175,500 California Chrome California Cup Derby.
A pillar of Toroughbred racing in the Golden State for more than four decades, Harris always had a special regard for the California Cup, which he helped start in 1990. Te impressive upset victory for the maiden Start the Ride in his frst ofcial start made for an emotional winner’s circle.
“We are just so happy (Start the Ride) could get it done here today and very happy Mrs. (Cookie) Harris and friends could be here to celebrate it,” said Jonny Hilvers, general manager of the Harris Farms horse division. “I think John was defnitely riding him that last sixteenth of a mile and got him there.”
“I know John is here in spirit,” added a tearful Darren Filkins, the farm’s chief
executive ofcer.
Since Harris’s passing, the famed horse breeding farm has undergone cutbacks. Te stallions have transferred and the broodmare group has been reduced, as 75 horses from its racing and breeding stock sold in an August dispersal. About 25 horses are still owned by Harris Farms.
“A lot of people have said Harris Farms is going away,” Filkins said. “We are not going away. Harris Farms is here and we are excited to keep running. Tis is part of the heritage and legacy that Harris is going to continue. Tis one is for John.”
Start the Ride, trained by Dan Blacker and ridden by Armando Ayuso, was sent of at odds of 13-1 in the 11⁄16-mile Cal Cup Derby.
Te son of Upstart out of the winning Tiznow mare Elusive Ride had one prior race, though he was declared a non-starter Nov. 16. Te stewards determined that the assistant starter had held onto Start the Ride’s reins too long after the gates had opened. Despite the belated beginning, the dark bay rallied to fnish fourth in the onemile test.
In the Cal Cup Derby, morning-line favorite Ocean Bear was scratched. Tat left stakes winner Sammy Davis, runner-up to Ocean Bear in the Golden State Juvenile Oct. 31, as the slight 2-1 choice over Smoovin Saturday in the feld of nine 3-year-olds.
First away, Sammy Davis dueled early with Almost Tere, Smoovin Saturday, and My Boy Stan through soft fractions of :23.69 and :48.38 and appeared in command by a couple of lengths entering the stretch drive.
Ayuso had Start the Ride settled toward the inside while stalking the leaders on the backstretch. As the others gave way leaving the fnal bend, Start the Ride advanced between horses. Sammy Davis, in his frst route try, began to weaken approaching the fnal furlong, and the fast-closing Start the Ride drew even at the sixteenth pole.
With track announcer Frank Mirahmadi proclaiming, “Te Harris Farms silks shining bright on Cal Cup Day,” Start the Ride bounded home to win going away by 134 lengths in a time of 1:44.55. Sammy Davis ran second by 11⁄2 lengths, with Pavlovian edging another Harris horse, Cruise Home, for third. Te victory was worth $96,250 to the winning connections.
“I’m just really thankful to everyone at Harris Farms,” Blacker said. “I’m really proud to win a big race for Harris Farms in John’s memory. It’s a big deal and I’m very proud.”
BY TRACY GANTZ
Cashed looked like a certainty to give Reddam Racing its second consecutive Leigh Ann Howard California Cup Oaks following Take Another Card. But no one told Cee Drew that she was going up against a flly who was already graded stakes-placed from a stable that had won the Kentucky Derby (G1) twice.
As if Cashed’s second in the Starlet Stakes (G2) to Juddmonte-owned and Bob Bafert-trained Consequent weren’t enough, Reddam Racing also entered Eighties, a winning daughter of I’ll Have Another, one of those Kentucky Derby winners. Cee Drew had captured her debut, on turf, and ran eighth in the Nov. 29 Jimmy Durante Stakes (G3T) while closing from 10th early in the one-mile race.
“Tis horse has shown talent,” said trainer Dan Blacker.
Ricky Gonzalez, who rode Cee Drew in the Durante, said that she was full of run late in that race. Her performance encouraged Mike Way, who bred and races Cee Drew in the name of My Way Racing LLC, and Blacker to take a chance on the Cal Cup Oaks.
Way calls his horse operation “a small little barn,” but what it lacks in size he makes up for in enthusiasm. He decided to bring “25-30 people” with him to
Santa Anita for the Cal Cup Oaks.
Te cheering section included Way’s friend Chris Drew, Cee Drew’s namesake. Tough Chris is a man and Cee Drew is a flly, Way simply wanted to give his buddy a thrill to be able to follow a horse named for him. Chris attended the flly’s maiden victory and the Cal Cup, only missing the Durante, which probably means Way won’t let him skip any races in the future.
Te Cal Cup Oaks, named for the late Leigh Ann Howard, a top California farm manager and longtime CTBA board member, is contested at a mile on the turf. About half the feld had turf experience, not including Cashed. Tat didn’t stop bettors from making her the even-money favorite.
Too Sassy, who broke her maiden on turf and won the Generous Portion
Stakes on dirt, set the early pace of :23.09 for the frst quarter-mile and :46.67 for a half-mile. Cashed and Cee Drew raced in midpack.
“I was sitting perfectly,” said Gonzalez, who was back aboard Cee Drew.
Cashed made her bid on the second turn, racing three wide, and Gonzalez elected to follow Cashed. Te two fllies battled in deep stretch, neither willing to give up. Ultimately, Cee Drew edged the favorite by a neck in 1:35.93, with Cecilia Street 31⁄2 lengths back in third.
“I knew we were gaining, and she had a lot of run underneath me,” Gonzalez said. “She fnished really well.”
Blacker praised Gonzalez’s ride, calling it “perfect.”
Way bred Cee Drew in California from You’re a Goat, an English-bred flly Blacker also trained. Cee Drew is by deceased Cistron.
“Of her frst two, one passed away and one I could run faster than,” Way said of the mare.
“Te third one won and got claimed away, and this is the fourth.”
Way is looking forward to You’re A Goat’s 2026 2-year-old, a flly by Smiling Tiger, and she has a yearling flly by Halladay.
BY JACK SHINAR
You can count on Grand Slam Smile to begin every campaign in the same way—in the winner’s circle.
For the fourth consecutive season, the 5-year-old Smiling Tiger mare got her year started with a victory, after taking the $126,500 Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf Sprint Stakes in handy front-running fashion for jockey William Antongeorgi III.
Te race was the fnale for the 2026 California Cup program at Santa Anita Jan. 17 and produced the eighth stakes win for Grand Slam Smile, a two-time California-bred divisional champion.
Te winner’s purse of $75,000 boosted Grand Slam Smile’s career total to $828,120. Tat makes her the leading all-time earner for Larry and Marianne Williams, the Idaho couple that was a fxture among Northern California’s leading breeders and owners for many years. Grand Slam Smile has now won 10 of 17 career starts with six seconds and a third.
Grand Slam Smile surpassed the Williams’ multiple graded stakes-placed Rousing Sermon (2011-15), who banked $821,572 over a 36-race career.
“She’s our second horse to earn more than $800,000,” said Dan Kiser, who manages the Williams horse ranch in Idaho. “When I gave her to (trainer) Steve (Specht), I told him that she could be special. She was just so ornery, so fighty. But I was always a big believer. I just didn’t know if she could get
there. It turned out we had the right people for her along the way.”
Te right person now is trainer Sean McCarthy, who replaced Specht when that veteran conditioner retired in December 2024. Grand Slam Smile won both the Solana Beach and the Betty Grable Stakes for Cal-breds at Del Mar last year for McCarthy.
Kiser said that they’d like to get Grand Slam Smile a chance to win a graded stakes this year. Her only prior race in graded company was a third-place fnish in the 2024 Torrey Pines Stakes (G3).
“Sean and I have talked about it, and we’d like to squeeze a (graded) race in between some of the Cal-bred stakes on the schedule, if that works out,” Kiser said. “But the Cal-bred stakes program is so lu-
crative and with a horse like Grand Slam Smile, it doesn’t seem to matter whether a race is a route or a sprint, on the dirt or the turf. She just throws it down every time.”
Kiser added, “Aggie (Ordonez) has a pretty good flly, Om N Joy, and we’re looking forward to seeing her sometime in the future.”
In the Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf Sprint, at about 61⁄2 furlongs on Santa Anita’s hillside course, Grand Slam Smile was favored at 4-5. Sneaker, who defeated Grand Slam Smile by a head down the hill in the California Distaf Handicap in October, was a veterinarian’s scratch, leaving a feld of eight older fllies and mares.
Grand Slam Smile took the lead right after the break and maintained a comfortable advantage for Antongeorgi while clicking of solid early fractions of :22.03 and :44.57. She opened up leaving the dirt under slight urging to lead Prancingthruparis by 21⁄2 lengths into the stretch. Grand Slam Smile was clear to the wire by 11⁄2 lengths in a fnal time of 1:12.71. Second-choice Take Another Card closed very wide through the lane to get up for second by three-quarters of a length over Prancingthruparis.
Grand Slam Smile, out of the Grand Slam mare Royal Grand Slam, won for thefourthtimeonturffromsixtries.
BY TRACY GANTZ
Express Kid emerged as the poster child for Richard Barton Enterprises, which in 2025 led California breeders for the third consecutive year. Te Barton business model is to ofer everything at auction. When someone can turn a $2,000 purchase into an $800,000 sale, people are going to pay close attention to everything Barton sends into the ring.
“Ofering everything for sale has been central to our success,” said Kate Barton Penner, executive vice president of Richard Barton Enterprises. “Buyers know they always have access to the full strength of each yearling crop, and it keeps us accountable to produce commercial, quality horses year after year.”
Young horses mature at different rates, and Barton’s yearling crops bring all price ranges. Barton frequently sell horses for six fgures in California, but they also send horses outside of the state. Express Kid, a California-bred son of Bodexpress—Sensationalize, by Street Sense, sold as a yearling for $2,000 to Steve Haahr at the 2024 Arizona Toroughbred Breeders’ Association fall mixed sale.
en in a Fasig-Tipton digital sale.
It turned out to be an incredible bargain, as Express Kid as a 2-year-old in 2025 fnished second in the Prairie Meadows Freshman Stakes and earned Kentucky Derby points by winning the $300,000 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes. He garnered $236,902 in purses and then sold for $800,000 to Brad Klev-
“Express Kid’s performance in the Springboard Mile earned the frst Kentucky Derby points ever achieved by a Barton-bred, a proud milestone for our operation,” Penner said. “He’s a perfect example of what our program is designed to do—produce a horse that develops, performs, and proves value for his connections.”
Express Kid didn’t put Barton back atop the California breeders list all by himself. Together Barton-breds in 2025
won 164 races, 13 of them stakes, and earned $4,277,278. Penner and her parents, Richard and Beth Barton, lead the team that produced these runners. Farm manager Kevin Dickson heads up the crew at Barton Toroughbreds, their 200-acre farm in the Santa Ynez Valley.
“We’re incredibly proud to lead the California breeders once again,” Penner said. “It’s a refection of consistency, not just one standout horse, but multiple crops performing across the board.”
Twirling Crown, a California-bred daughter of One Bad Boy—Unusual Stuf, by Unusual Heat, was another bargain. Barton ofered her at the 2024 CTBA Northern California sale, where Alejandro Contreras picked her up for just $1,000. Twirling Crown went on to capture the Clasico Lea-B (G1) and Clasico Debutantes (G3) at Hipodromo De Las Americas in Mexico.
Liberation, a Cal-bred daughter of Omaha Beach—Ponytail, by Lonhro, cost West Point Toroughbreds $130,000 at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton California sale. Tat also turned out to be a very worthwhile purchase, as she won the Soviet Problem Stakes, placed in three other stakes, and earned $177,600 just as a 2-year-old.
Pete Parrella’s Legacy Ranch purchased Mohaven, a Cal-bred daughter of Yaupon—Bahama Mischief, by Into Mischief, for $200,000 at the same sale. She won the Golden State Juvenile Fillies Stakes, ran second in the Generous Portion Stakes, and earned $182,750.
Of those two fllies, Penner said, “Teir strong 2025 seasons reinforced that our strategy is working: Investing in quality mares, breeding or purchasing them in
foal to Kentucky stallions, and ofering those resulting yearlings commercially is clearly paying dividends.”
Barton led all consignors at that 2024 Fasig-Tipton sale, and they repeated as leading consignors at the same sale in 2025. Tey only retain horses to race themselves who either did not bring their reserves or had an issue that kept them out of a sale. Nevertheless, Barton connections got to stand in the winner’s circle many times after horses they bred and owned won.
Tose included Ocean Bear, a Cal-bred son of Bolt d’Oro—Ocean Dream, by Square Eddie, who won three races, including the Golden State Juvenile Stakes, and earned $200,350 for the season.
“Ocean Bear was a major highlight for us—breeding and campaigning him ourselves and then watching him win
Ofering everything for sale has been central to our success. Buyers know they always have access to the full strength of each yearling crop.”
— Kate Barton Penner
the Golden State Juvenile in Barton silks was a very proud moment,” Penner said. “We also bred and raced Santa Barbarian, whose victory in the Snow Chief Stakes was another standout accomplishment for the farm.”
Te day of the Snow Chief at Santa
Anita was huge for Barton. Tey were also represented as breeders by Liberation and No Cap winning on the same card.
Pushiness has contributed to all three of Barton’s leading breeder seasons. In 2025, the Cal-bred daughter of Kantharos— Imperial Pippin, by Empire Maker, added the Daisycutter Handicap at Del Mar and ran second in the Irish O’Brien Stakes at Santa Anita.
Stakes-placed Barton-breds included Going Deep, Hot Girl Walk, Lady Mendelssohn, No Cap, Rodrigoknows, and Tommy Norris.
“Seeing our horses perform at that level, both for Barton and for others, validates the direction we’ve taken with the program and gives buyers even more confdence in what we’re producing,” Penner said.
FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR, GRAZEN’S CAL-BREDS LEAD THE WAY
BY TRACY GANTZ
When Collected joined the California stallion ranks in late 2025 for the 2026 breeding season, he brought his statistics with him. While that put him atop several of California’s leading sire lists, he did it with horses bred outside of the state.
In a few years, Collected should have plenty of California-breds to compete with his California counterparts. When he does, he will likely have to go up against that dynamic duo of Grazen and Stay Tirsty. Tose two sires continue to battle it out for state supremacy, with Grazen winning in still another photo fnish.
It is the third consecutive year that Grazen has led the state by total progeny earnings. He ended 2025 with $3,805,319, less than $50,000 ahead of Stay Tirsty’s $3,756,483, an even closer margin than in 2024.
Grazen once again led all California turf sires for the third consecutive year, not counting Collected’s out-of-state
runners, with $1,632,671. Grazen even defeated Collected outright in two categories: by average earnings per start ($6,572) and by lifetime Average-Earnings Index (1.34). Te AEI examines how well a stallion moves up his mares, and this was the sixth consecutive season that Grazen has headed that list.
Grazen currently stands at Eclipse Toroughbred Training and Sports Terapy in Buellton, not far from his of-season home at the farm of his breeder and owner, Nick Alexander. Now 20 years old, Grazen was represented in 2025 by the likes of Lovesick Blues, Grazen’s leading 2025 earner and winner of the Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) and Siren Lure Stakes.
Lovesick Blues also contributed to one of Grazen’s biggest feats in 2025. Te stallion had the Trifecta in the $101,000 Sensational Star Stakes, with Lonesome Stew beating out Tom Horn by a head as Lovesick Blues fnished third, what Alexander said was certainly one of the highlights. But the stallion had many more.
Not only did Lovesick Blues win the Bing Crosby—“the
only grade 1 won by a California sire,” Alexander pointed out—but he competed well in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at age 7, the oldest runner in the 14-horse feld.
Cornelia Fort, Old Pal, and Shocking Grey additionally won stakes in 2025 to contribute to Grazen’s statistics. Alexander bred Lovesick Blues, Cornelia Fort, and Lonesome Stew, while others bred Old Pal and Shocking Grey.
Grazen’s runners are durable, with the likes of Jetovator winning as a 9-year-old in 2025.
“And Wishtheyallcouldbe won multiple allowance races at 7,” Alexander said.
Alexander stands Grazen’s son Tough Sunday at Eclipse as well, and the second generation is doing just fne. Tough Sunday led California sires by average earnings per runner ($49,749). His runners included Real Good Deal Stakes winner Speedy Wilson and Shea Brennan, who placed in the Real Good Deal, California Chrome Cal Cup Derby, and Te Chosen Vron Stakes.
Grazen andTough Sunday continue to put Alexander high on the list of leading California breeders. In 2025, Alexander fnished fourth, with a total of $2,451,045.
Stay Tirsty not only does well on the general lists, he excels as a sire of 2-year-olds. Te stallion, who stands at Terry Lovingier’s Lovacres Farm, led outright by number of 2-year-old winners (11) and number of 2-yearold races won (13). Excepting Collected, Stay Tirsty led sires of 2-year-olds by total earnings ($622,260) as well as the general sire lists by number of winners (94) and number of races won (158).
Vodka Vodka became Stay Tirsty’s leading earner of 2025 via the allowance ranks, a tough thing to do. He earned $233,600, won back-to-back allowance races late in his 4-year-old season, and fnished 2025 with a solid fourth in the Laft Pincay Jr. Stakes (G2), his stakes debut. Tirsty Rebel was Stay Tirsty’s leading 2-year-old earner, amassing $105,600 and running second in the I’m Smokin Stakes.
Paul and Zillah Reddam’s champion I’ll Have Another led in three 2-year-old categories last year. Te Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1) winner topped California sires of 2-year-olds by average earnings per runner ($48,872), average earnings per start ($12,937), and median earnings per runner ($52,600). Now pensioned at Old Friends in Kentucky, I’ll Have Another was represented by such Cal-breds as stakes winners Take Another Card and Smoovin Saturday, graded stakes-placed Cashed, and stakes-placed Brookys Gal. Empire Way led California sires in 2025 by median earnings per runner ($24,480). Empire’s Fire, an Ohiobred, was Empire Way’s leading earner during the season with $130,294. Te 2019 gelding won the Best of Ohio Babst/Palacios Memorial Stakes.
Stop the Clock, a 2-year-old California-bred son of Drain the Clock, topped the CTBA winter mixed sale at $40,000, giving Linda Madsen an exciting frst. Her Milky Way Farm, which expanded its sales presence a few years ago to include outside clients, had its frst sale topper.
“What an honor to have the sales topper for the great team of guys that handle the sale horses,” Madsen said. “Johnny Alvira has put together a great team and works so hard at home getting the horses ready that it made having the colt be the high seller such a great reward.”
Madsen sold the sale topper for Norm Tavares, “who has been such a wonderful supporter of the farm,” she said. Trainer Mark Glatt bought Stop the Clock, a son of the winning Malibu Moon mare Bella Moon. Madsen bought the mare carrying the Drain the Clock colt for $22,000 at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton October digital sale.
“He looked like an athletic horse,” said Glatt. “Te sire could run, and I like Malibu Moon mares. He looked like an individual that has a lot of room to improve— he’s almost a May foal. So we’ll see how he grows up.”
Larry Zap purchased the second-highest-price horse of the sale at $37,000 on behalf of California Racing Partners and Joe Ciaglia. Terry Lovingier’s Lovacres Ranch consigned the 2-year-old Cal-bred son of Stay Tirsty—Spring Moon, by Zensational. Te colt is a half brother to stakes-placed Govenor’s Party.
“We’ve had mostly turf horses in the past, and we want to get some dirt horses in California,” said Zap. “If you do that, you’ve gotta go with Stay Tirsty—we’re thirsty for the dirt.”
NickHinesboughtseveralhorsesofall
ages. He went to $31,000 for a 2-yearold Cal-bred son of Visitant from the consignment of Andy Havens’ Havens Bloodstock Agency and to $25,000 for a 2-year-old Cal-bred son of Smokem consigned by Lovacres.
“With newly turned 2-year-olds who would potentially have the opportunity to run this year,” Hines said, “now
that they have increased the incentives for California-breds in 2026, not to mention the purse structure at Del Mar looks pretty lucrative, I thought that this is a great opportunity to try and get some horses at a reasonable number.”
Hines said he became a fan of Visitant when he broke a track record at Turfway Park and ran well in California. Te dam, Gettin Sideways, is a stakes-placed daughter of California leading sire Grazen.
Rancho San Miguel sold a 2-year-old Cal-bred son of Mo Forza for $30,000. Trainer Ryan Hanson bought the colt, who is out of the winning Medaglia d’Oro mare Wild Moment. Te second dam is 2009 champion 2-year-old flly She Be Wild, winner of that year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). Te sale grossed $739,200, with 114 sold for an average of $6,484.
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BY JACK SHINAR
Mike Way is the chief executive officer of Prime Time International, one of the largest vegetable producers in America, and a small-time horse owner on the side
How small? Way’s stable— My Way Racing—currently consists of six horses, some of them with partners, and one broodmare.
Breeding horses was not on his radar until he was gifted the English-bred You’re A Goat. But when the opportunity arose, the self-described “gambler at heart” decided to,
of course, do it his way.
Turns out, the 60-year-old La Quinta resident is pretty lucky, too. Tat broodmare produced the talented bay flly Cee Drew, a California-bred daughter of the deceased stallion Cistron. In her third lifetime start, Cee Drew captured the $175,000 Leigh Ann Howard California Cup Oaks at a mile on the turf at Santa Anita Jan. 17.
You’re A Goat was one of three horses that trainer Dan Blacker, a native of Oxford, England, had imported several years ago from the United Kingdom. She was owned in a partnership, Roadrunner
Racing, which included Way, among others.
A four-time winner at tracks in Great Britain, You’re A Goat never adapted to American racing. From fve U.S. starts, she managed one third-place effort in a claiming race.
After You’re A Goat’s lastplace fnish in a claimer at Del Mar in 2018, Blacker decided it was time to call it quits on the 5-year-old mare by Notnowcato.
“She wasn’t worth anything, and so I asked Dan what he was going to do with her,” Way recalled. “He said he was going to give her away, and I said, ‘Don’t do that; I’ll take her.’
“It wasn’t for any academic reason. If he was going to give her away to someone to breed her, I fgured why not me? She didn’t cost me anything, and I’d been thinking about maybe breeding a horse. She’d shown some racing ability on turf, and Dan thought she’d be a pretty decent broodmare.”
New to the business, Way took You’re A Goat directly to the pros at Harris Farms in search of a promising mating. But it was not immediate.
Cee Drew, named for Way’s friend Chris Drew, was the fourth foal produced by You’re A Goat, and the frst to fnd success. Drew, a CEO for a Northern California produce company, and Way met at a conference and became fast friends. Way said he named the flly for him in order to get him interested in racing, “and now Chris wants to go every week.”
With her win in the Cal Cup Oaks, Cee Drew is now
two-for-three, all on grass.
“Winning that race with 28 people there with me, it doesn’t get much better than that,” Way said. “It was quite a time. My bar bill that day was close to what they paid for the winning purse.”
Way added, “We want to see if (Cee Drew) will handle dirt,” noting the ample stakes opportunities for fllies provided over that surface in the Golden State Series. “We believe she has more to give.”
Cee Drew was set to run in the Golden State Juvenile Fillies Stakes on the Breeders’ Cup undercard Oct. 31 on the main track at Del Mar. But perhaps spooked by the huge crowd, she reared up before the race and fell over, resulting in a veterinarian’s scratch.
Winning that race (the Cal Cup Oaks) with 28 people there with me, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
Her sire, Cistron, by Te Factor, was a crack sprinter on both dirt and turf, winning the Kona Gold (G2) and Bing Crosby (G1) in 2019 as well as the San Simeon (G3T) a year later. Unfortunately, Cistron died of complications from colic in 2024 while in just his third season at stud.
Way has bred You’re A Goat twice more and has a pair of fllies—a 2-yearold by Smiling Tiger that is expected to start later this year and a yearling by Halladay.
Cee Drew is not Way’s only stakes winner. His Florida-bred 7-year-old El Potente won Santa Anita’s Tunder Road Stakes (G3T) a year ago. Te son of Temple City, trained by Blacker, has earned $284,796 through 2025 while winning six of 16 lifetime starts, mostly on turf.
He also has Te Mizen Queen, an Irish import trained by Blacker and owned in a partnership. Te 4-yearold flly broke her maiden at Del Mar in September and was most recently a
— Mike Way
close fourth in an allowance at Santa Anita.
Way, who attended Fresno State University, had always wanted to get into farming. He began with Prime
Time, best known for its bell peppers, founded in 1992 in the Coachella Valley and Bakersfeld. Te company expanded into Mexico a few years later, becoming the largest supplier of bell peppers in North America.
Prime Time further expanded into Peru while adding numerous farming locations and a distribution network throughout the United States. Its produce now includes mini peppers, asparagus, broccoli, and caulifower.
Way and his wife, Ellen, have two adult daughters, Julia and Lizzie. Te girls came up with his stable name, My Way Racing, and also designed their brightly colored silks—green with a red “M and a yellow “W,” with yellow and green bell peppers on black sleeves.
Trough trainer Ruben Cardenas, Way claimed his frst horse on his own, Proud Louie Too, in 2006 for $16,000.
“With the business doing well, I thought maybe I could buy a racehorse,” Way said. “He won that day. Ten we ran him back and I have my friends and mom with me, and he runs fourth. We’re driving back to the desert that night and I get a call from Ruben, who tells me, ‘We have a clacker problem, and he needs surgery (for a displaced soft palate).’
“I tell him, ‘I’m not ready for this’ and to run him back for the same price, $16,000, which he does. He didn’t win, but there were eight claims in for him and Jerry Hollendorfer gets him. He does the surgery, and the horse comes back and wins four races in a row for Hollendorfer.
“So that was my frst lesson in horse ownership. You’ve got to do what’s right for the horse at all times.”
DECEMBER 29, 2025 – JANUARY 25, 2026
American Pharoah—Ready for Romance: Cali Cat (54-8), r, 4 yo, Santa Anita Park, AOC, 1/10, 1mi (T), 1:34.84, $42,000.
Bolt d'Oro—Intermittent: Ventry Strand (70-17), c, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, AOC, 1/19, 6f (T), 1:09.67, $42,000.
Catalina Cruiser—Giant Screen: Catalina Cocktail (54-6), m, 5 yo, Turf Paradise, SOC, 1/8, 1mi, 1:37.55, $8,400.
Cat Burglar—Trick: Cagey Burglar (14-3), g, 5 yo, Turf Paradise, AOC, 1/15, 1mi, 1:38.00, $10,500.
Cat Burglar—Lady Gamer: Cat Gamer (14-3), g, 7 yo, Sunland Park, AOC, 1/18, 6 1/2f, 1:15.74, $15,600.
Cistron—Irene's Cherub: Marcos Performance (3-2), g, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, SOC, 1/9, 6f, 1:09.01, $25,200.
Cistron—You're A Goat (GB): Cee Drew (3-2), f, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, STK, Leigh Ann Howard California Cup Oaks, 1/17, 1mi (T), 1:35.93, $96,250.
Clubhouse Ride—Lottawampum: Special Club (31-4), g, 5 yo, Santa Anita Park, AOC, 1/15, 6f (T), 1:09.34, $42,000.
Clubhouse Ride—Letthepartybegin: Garden Party (31-4), m, 5 yo, Santa Anita Park, SOC, 1/16, 1mi (T), 1:36.20, $25,200.
Curlin to Mischief—Shezroxiie: Shezmisbehaving (14-1), m, 7 yo, Santa Anita Park, AOC, 1/24, 6f (T), 1:09.81, $42,000.
Danzing Candy—Camino Song (IRE): Uncle John (19-4), g, 6 yo, Gulfstream Park, SOC, 1/4, 1mi 70yd, 1:38.52, $16,800.
Grazen—Irish Winnie: Irish Royalty (36-6), g, 6 yo, Santa Anita Park, AOC, 1/15, 6f (T), 1:08.37, $42,000.
Grazen—Wind N Waves: Titanic Thompson (36-6), c, 4 yo, Santa Anita Park, AOC, 1/17, 6f, 1:08.95, $42,000.
Lakerville—Chamonix Surprise: Chamaville (2-1), m, 5 yo, Turf Paradise, SOC, 1/22, 1mi (T), 1:36.88, $6,600.
Ministers Wild Cat—Devilish Pro: Devil Among Us (8-1), g, 6 yo, Turf Paradise, AOC, 1/6, 5 1/2f, 1:03.00, $10,980.
Mrazek—Atlantic Swing: Stop Digging (7-1), m, 5 yo, Santa Anita Park, AOC, 1/2, 1mi, 1:36.27, $42,000.
Practical Joke—Caymanbird: Berlin Wall (113-21), c, 4 yo, Santa Anita Park, AOC, 1/25, 1mi, 1:37.98, $42,000.
Sir Prancealot (IRE)—X S Gold: Guiltyofhavingfun (38-4), f, 4 yo, Turf Paradise, AOC, 1/5, 7 1/2f (T), 1:30.92, $10,325.
Smiling Tiger—Hotazel: Mr. Disrespectful (41-10), g, 5 yo, Santa Anita Park, AOC, 12/29, 1mi, 1:36.64, $42,000.
Smiling Tiger—Erica's Smile: Spectacular Tiger (41-10), g, 5 yo, Turf Paradise, AOC, 1/5, 5 1/2f, 1:03.33, $10,500.
Smiling Tiger—Unbridled Summer: No Ordinary Tiger (41-10), g, 4 yo, Turf Paradise, AOC, 1/6, 7 1/2f (T), 1:30.61, $10,500.
Smiling Tiger—Royal Grand Slam: Grand Slam Smile (41-10), m, 5 yo, Santa Anita Park, STK, Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint S. presented by John Deere, 1/17, about 6 1/2f, 1:12.71, $75,000.
Stanford—She's Not a Lemon: Greatful Attitude (32-6), m, 4 yo, Turf Paradise, STR, 12/29, 1mi (T), 1:38.14, $7,200.
n The accompanying list includes runners that are both California-foaled and California-sired winners in 2024 of all recent North American races, except straight claiming races.
n Abbreviations used for the class of race are similar to those used by Equibase: Alw–allowance; Hcp–overnight handicap; names of stakes race are spelled out, with the grade of the race, when applicable, in parentheses.
Stanford—Wife Approved: Good Lovin (32-6), g, 5 yo, Sunland Park, SOC, 1/4, 6 1/2f, 1:16.27, $8,680. Stanford—A Walk in the Park: Cecilia Street (32-6), f, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, AOC, 1/9, 6f (T), 1:09.80, $42,000.
Stanford—Kathleen Rose: Man O Rose (32-6), g, 6 yo, Santa Anita Park, STK, Don Valpredo California Cup Sprint S., 1/17, 6f, 1:08.68, $75,000.
Stanford—Wicked Factor: Captivated Drama (32-6), g, 6 yo, Hollywood Casino At Charles Town Races, SOC, 1/23, 4 1/2f, 53.40, $13,536.
Stay Thirsty—Bunny Yogurt: A Votre Sante (58-9), g, 4 yo, Parx Racing, SOC, 1/7, 6 1/2f, 1:19.74, $15,600.
Stay Thirsty—Margie's Minute: Vodka Vodka (58-9), g, 5 yo, Santa Anita Park, STK, Unusual Heat Turf Classic S. presented by City National Bank, 1/17, 1 1/8mi (T), 1:48.12, $96,250.
Stay Thirsty—Spring Moon: My Love Caroline (58-9), f, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, AOC, 1/23, 6f, 1:11.99, $42,000.
Stay Thirsty—Tricked Again: Thirsty Trickster (58-9), f, 4 yo, Santa Anita Park, SOC, 1/24, 6 1/2f, 1:17.40, $25,200.
Bodexpress—Fantastic Cousin: Street Gun (14-4), g, 4 yo, Turf Paradise, MCL, 1/1, 6f, 1:11.51, $5,015. Bodexpress—Shared Image: Crossrighthands (14-4), g, 4 yo, Sunland Park, MCL, 1/19, 6 1/2f, 1:16.83, $6,240.
Bronze Star—Lady of Athens: Lady Gambita (2-1), f, 4 yo, Turf Paradise, MOC, 1/19, 6f, 1:09.66, $10,540.
Cat Burglar—Revenue Virginius: Still Unwritten (14-3), f, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MSW, 1/17, 6f (T), 1:09.30, $42,000.
Circumference (IRE)—Tropical Moon: Seb n' Sam (3-1), g, 7 yo, Turf Paradise, MCL, 1/12, 6f, 1:13.29, $6,000.
Clubhouse Ride—A Kiss for Maria: Della Terra (31-4), m, 5 yo, Santa Anita Park, MCL, 1/16, 5 1/2f, 1:05.79, $21,000.
Curlin to Mischief—Love Winning: Winning Heart (14-1), c, 3 yo, Turf Paradise, MOC, 12/29, 5 1/2f, 1:03.75, $10,200.
Dads Caps—Indian Fiesta: Solo Gano (16-2), c, 4 yo, Santa Anita Park, MCL, 1/15, 5 1/2f, 1:05.15, $21,000.
Dosifcado (CHI)—Mini Skirt: Mini Again (2-1), f, 4 yo, Turf Paradise, MCL, 1/24, 6 1/2f, 1:20.31, $5,100.
G. G. Ryder—Cell Line Forever: Hela Forever (3-1), c, 4 yo, Turf Paradise, MOC, 1/19, 6f, 1:09.98, $10,030.
Govenor Charlie—Miss Rizz: One Happy Dude (3-1), c, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MCL, 1/2, 5 1/2f, 1:05.45, $12,600.
Grazen—Miranda Rose: Billie Holiday (36-6), f, 2 yo, Santa Anita Park, MSW, 12/29, 6f, 1:10.37, $42,000.
Grazen—Pretty Hard: Infnitum (36-6), g, 4 yo, Santa Anita Park, MSW, 1/2, 6f, 1:09.64, $42,000.
Grazen—All Star Heart: Green Zone (36-6), f, 4 yo, Santa Anita Park, MSW, 1/8, 1mi (T), 1:37.67, $42,000.
Grazen—Californiasunshine: Apple Pie (36-6), m, 5 yo, Santa Anita Park, MSW, 1/11, 6f (T), 1:09.56, $42,000.
Grazen—Carpathia: Coyote Cafe (36-6), f, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MSW, 1/19, 1mi (T), 1:37.83, $42,000. Informed—Give Me a Hint: Subtle Knowledge (1-1), f, 4 yo, Santa Anita Park, MCL, 1/25, 6f, 1:12.97, $10,200.
Jeranimo—Carolina Grande: Grandisimo (2-1), g, 4 yo, Santa Anita Park, MCL, 1/19, 1mi, 1:38.67, $10,200.
Lexitonian—Arabica: Memetic (11-2), f, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MCL, 1/15, 6f, 1:11.23, $15,600.
Maxfeld—Gidget Girl: Dark Blue (14-3), c, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MSW, 1/15, 1mi (T), 1:37.03, $42,000.
Mr. Big—The Last Ruler: Big A's Little One (19-4), f, 4 yo, Turf Paradise, MCL, 1/14, 6f, 1:12.41, $6,100.
Mo Forza—Sindyfromsantacruz: Famous Forza (9-2), f, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MSW, 1/17, 6f (T), 1:09.77, $42,000.
Mo Forza—Makeme Dream: Forza Azzurri (9-2), c, 3 yo, Gulfstream Park, MCL, 1/22, 1 1/16mi, 1:45.02, $16,800.
Om—Bold Ante: Ante Up Tony (25-3), f, 4 yo, Oaklawn Park, MCL, 1/1, 6f, 1:12.93, $18,300.
Om—Halo Darlin: Dark Omen (25-3), g, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MSW, 1/10, 6f (T), 1:08.66, $42,000.
Om—You're Late: Om Time Gal (25-3), f, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MCL, 1/17, 6f, 1:13.81, $12,600.
Originaire (IRE)—One Eyed Mama: Original One (1-1), r, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MCL, 1/18, 5 1/2f, 1:05.73, $15,600.
Pavel—Predicate: Syntax (8-1), f, 4 yo, Santa Anita Park, MSW, 1/25, 6f, 1:11.95, $42,000.
Point Piper—Oh Molly Brannigan: Mr. Tariff (3-1), g, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MCL, 1/24, 1mi, 1:41.27, $12,600.
Sir Prancealot (IRE)—Anais: Mom Says (38-4), g, 4 yo, Turf Paradise, MCL, 1/1, 5f, 58.25, $5,900.
Sir Prancealot (IRE)—Khun Dots Varon: Wizardess (38-4), f, 4 yo, Turf Paradise, MCL, 1/5, 5f, 58.72, $5,900.
Smiling Tiger—Kadley: Strait Up Country (41-10), g, 4 yo, Santa Anita Park, MSW, 1/15, 1mi (T), 1:36.27, $42,000.
Stanford—Discatsonthesquare: Stanley Cat (32-6), g, 5 yo, Hollywood Casino At Charles Town Races, MCL, 1/21, 4 1/2f, 53.23, $11,842. Stay Thirsty—Appealing Susan: Dakota's Shadow (58-9), f, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MCL, 1/9, 5 1/2f, 1:03.15, $12,600.
Straight Fire—Byebye to Shanghai: Straight Buzzin (3-2), g, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MCL, 1/18, 5 1/2f, 1:05.43, $21,000.
Surf Cat—Madre Luna: Surf Star (2-1), f, 4 yo, Los Alamitos, MCL, 1/18, 4 1/2f, 52.69, $4,310. Tamarando—Lucky Babe: Tammy Baby (4-1), f, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MCL, 1/23, 5 1/2f, 1:05.60, $21,000.
Tough Sunday—Carrie Rose: My Bodacious Boy (4-1), g, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, MSW, 1/8, 6f, 1:11.35, $42,000.
Upstart—Elusive Ride: Start the Ride (44-8), c, 3 yo, Santa Anita Park, STK, California Chrome Cal Cup Derby, 1/17, 1 1/16mi, 1:44.55, $96,250.
BY HEATHER SMITH THOMAS
Any time a product is injected into a horse, there is always potential for adverse reaction. Problems are rare if the injection is given in proper dosage, at the proper site, and via the proper route of administration, but some reactions occur even when everything is done correctly.
Te reaction may be as minor as swelling at the injection site, or a more serious allergic reaction resulting in hives all over the body. Most serious is a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction in which the horse goes into shock and collapses after the injection.
Reactions are most likely to occur if vaccine or medication is given improperly or if questionable products are injected.
Tia Nelson, a veterinarian in Helena, Mont., says one of the most common is
an acute reaction a day or two after vaccination. Te horse develops a sizeable lump at the site of injection, which is often the neck.
“I now give most vaccinations in the thigh, since the neck is so sensitive afterward,” Nelson said. “It doesn’t make sense to have to take the horse out of training for a week or so because of an injection-site reaction in an area where the rein touches it.”
Te neck may also be so sore that the horse is reluctant to put his head down to eat or drink.
“Tose are the most common reactions, though on occasion a horse will develop an abscess at the injection site,” said Nelson. “Even a properly given injection has the potential to create an abscess.”
Dr. Carolyn (Carrie) Hammer is the associate dean of the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources and
former State Horse Extension Specialist and director of the Equine Science Program at North Dakota State University. She says there are two types of reaction. One is triggered by the horse’s immune system, while the other is a local reaction.
“It might be bacterial, fungal, or some other kind of contamination of the injection site,” Hammer said, “leading to swelling or cellulitis, or in worst-case scenario some sort of clostridial infection.”
Another worst-case scenario is when a person gives a strangles intranasal vaccine as an injection rather than up the nostril.
“Tis can create a life-threatening injection-site reaction abscess,” said Nelson. “Tere can be problems when people give multiple vaccinations and give the intranasal strangles vaccine frst. If you get any strangles vaccine on your fngers and then give the other injections, there is potential for contamination of those injection sites, causing a strangles abscess at the injection site.
“I tell people to give the strangles intranasal vaccine last. Don’t even touch it until you are done giving all the other injections. Some veterinarians say the Pinnacle intranasal strangles vaccine can be given orally, which makes it easier to administer to a horse that doesn’t like something stuck into his nose. But it’s generally recommended for intranasal delivery for stronger protection.”
If the horse moves while you are giving an injection, the inserted needle creates more irritation and tissue damage.
“Tis often happens if the horse resents being vaccinated and won’t stand still,” Nelson said. “If he moves, there is more risk for a reaction because of potential tissue damage/trauma. I’ve seen horses end up with huge knots on the neck, and worried about what might happen the next time the horse is vaccinated but never have a problem again. In those instances, the knot might have been due to tissue damage or maybe hitting a capillary or something else that caused that a more signifcant reaction.
“Some horses, the day after vaccination and for a couple days afterward, have a fever and are a little dull. Try to plan vaccination around training schedules, so horses won’t be vaccinated just before athletic exertion.”
Any kind of injection has a small risk for anaphylaxis. Te old intramuscular strangles vaccine was notorious for serious reactions, including occasional cases of anaphylactic shock.
Swollen legs after vaccination can be a potentially serious situation.
“Tis is not unusual, following strangles, rhino, or fu vaccination, and can be indicative of purpura hemorrhagica, which is very serious,” said Nelson.
“Because vaccination can be problematic, I’m not a big fan of vaccinating for everything. I try to target vaccinations for what I think a horse is most at risk for disease exposure. We mainly worry about eastern and western sleeping sickness and tetanus. I use this combination vaccine because I can’t get vaccines for WEE and tetanus by themselves. West Nile is the other one I always recommend. Tese are the four diseases you cannot prevent any other way. Mosquito-borne diseases will always be a risk.
“Te others, like fu, rhino, strangles, Potomac horse fever, are ones I use discretion with. For pregnant mares, I recommend the killed rhino vaccine. Te fu-rhino vaccines show good immunity that lasts a long time, and reactions I’ve seen have been minimal.”
Rabies is another one to consider, since it is one of the core vaccines recommended by the AAEP for all horses.
“It’s not because horses are likely to get rabies,” said Nelson. “But if they do get it, they die, and anyone who handles them will be at risk and must be treated as primary exposure to rabies.”
Hammer noted, “In terms of preventing reactions, outside of general hygiene (making sure the injection site is clean and you are not injecting through dirt or mud, and using a clean, sterile needle), there is usually not much you can do to prevent them. Except for a horse that you know will react, we generally can’t predict it. One of the scariest reactions is the anaphylactic reaction, and this usually happens within seconds or minutes after the injection. Tis can be life-threatening. Te body can react in ways that eventually (or even immediately) lead to death.”
ian before giving that same kind of injection again.”
Some horses react more severely the next time, if it is something the immune system has become sensitive to.
If the person giving the injection is quick-thinking, this kind of reaction can often be turned around by injecting drugs to reverse the reaction and shock—although sometimes a horse will drop dead within seconds, without time to administer the antidote.
“Te less-serious reactions generally appear an hour to days later and range from simple things like swelling or muscle stifness in the neck or wherever the injection was given, to depression and the horse not feeling well,” said Hammer. “In some cases, the horse might have a mild fever or act a little colicky. Some will get a bit of diarrhea, depending on what the injection is.
“If you have a history of that happening with that horse, you can be more prepared the next time you have to give that product.”
You should consult with your veterinarian to know whether to give it again. Ask if you should try a diferent brand or product, in case the horse was reacting to the adjuvant in that particular vaccine.
“Some horses react adversely to certain antibiotics, and you should not use that class of antibiotic again for those horses.” Hammer said. “If the reaction is anything more than just minor depression, soreness, or minor swelling, consult your veterinar-
“It may be cumulative, and the reaction may be worse with subsequent injections,” Hammer said. “It is extremely important to know what a horse has reacted to in the past, and to have that information in that horse’s medical record.”
If the reaction is anything more than just minor depression, soreness, or minor swelling, consult your veterinarian before giving that same kind of injection again.”
— Dr. Carolyn Hammer
If the horse changes hands, you want the next owner to know the risk.
An intramuscular product should never be injected into the bloodstream.
“When giving an IM injection, always pull back on the inserted needle/syringe to check for presence of blood,” said Hammer. “Don’t give the injection if blood appears in the syringe.”
If that happens, remove the needle and syringe and try a slightly diferent site.
“Some products can result in severe reactions if injected into the bloodstream
when they are intended to be in the muscle,” Hammer said. “Penicillin is the most dramatic example. If it gets into the bloodstream, the horse can have a severe reaction within seconds. Often you don’t even fnish the injection before the horse shows signs of trouble— increased alertness, higher respiration rate, often progressing into aggressive frenzy.”
Nelson recalls one horse that was on penicillin for about four weeks because of a catastrophic injury.
“Tings were looking better and I gave him what would be his last dose, and he had a severe seizure,” Nelson said. “He was fne afterward, but it was frightening to watch. Tis type of reaction can be dangerous because the horse may hurt himself, or anyone trying to help him. Just get out of his way. Tere’s nothing you can do about it, and you might get seriously hurt while trying.”
You just have to let it run its course. Within a few minutes, those horses come back to normal. But in the meantime, it can be very dangerous if the horse is violent. He could seriously hurt himself by going over backward, crashing into things, or running through a fence, and could hurt you if he runs over the top of you or falls on you. It’s best to try to get out of the way rather than try to control the horse.
“Tere are some extremely bad reactions that can occur,” said Hammer. “An injection that is supposed to be intravenous, that doesn’t get all the way into the bloodstream and ends up in the muscle or the surrounding tissues, can cause some nasty lesions and reactions.”
Penicillin reactions in horses can be due to accidental intravenous injection of procaine penicillin or true allergy (anaphylaxis) from prior exposure, leading to hives, swelling, breathing issues, and potentially fatal collapse.
“Te neck is a common site for IM injections, but sometimes these can end up in the nuchal ligament because the needle was placed too high on the neck,” said Hammer. “If it’s placed too low, too close to the shoulder, it can also be problematic.
Tere’s not a good blood supply or enough muscle to absorb the product if you stick it into a ligament; it won’t do the horse much good and may also set up an abscess formation.”
If it is placed too close to the shoulder and there is any swelling at all, the horse won’t be able to move that shoulder forward without pain. He will be sore, lame, and stif for a while.
Proper injection sites are crucial. Most IM injections, especially large-volume shots, need to be placed in areas of thick muscle to have adequate muscle mass to absorb them readily. Traditionally, many people put injections into the hip/rump region because it has plenty of muscle. But the drawback to that location is that it is relatively horizontal and there is poor drainage if an abscess were to develop.
A better choice, if you don’t use the neck, is the vertical muscle of the buttocks, which has more muscle than the neck for absorbing a large shot.
“Some people are reluctant to inject into the rear end of the horse, fearful of being kicked,” Hammer said. “But most horses tolerate it pretty well, and this is a good muscle mass for IM injections. It will depend on the volume you are giving, and how well trained the horse is. If you see any kind of change in the horse that might need attention, ask your vet about it.”
Tat horse may react diferently to a certain injection than another horse. Some horses always get stif and sore the
next day—whether it’s a vaccine, antibiotic, steroid, or some other type of injection. Other horses never have a problem with any injections.
“We could give them several diferent vaccines, all in the neck, and they never get sore,” said Hammer. “It pays to know the horse.”
A reaction might be due to a specifc adjuvant, or a specifc vaccine.
“Sometimes you have to spread them out because the horse can’t tolerate more than one or two at a time,” said Hammer. “If you know the horse is sensitive, spread out the vaccines, with at least a week or
Hives can be an allergic-type reaction and a common side effect from vaccines in some horses.
“The lumps may be localized, like just along the neck, or may appear all over the body.” said Dr. Carolyn Hammer, associate dean of the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources at North Dakota State University. “Treatment to relieve hives will depend on the cause. If you are sure it is from the vaccine you just gave the horse, and
two in between, or make sure you are not giving modifed live and killed vaccines at the same time. Te killed vaccines tend to have more adjuvant and can sometimes lead to bigger reactions. If that horse tends to get really stif and sore, I often avoid the neck and use the buttocks instead.”
If you are not sure how the horse might react, put the vaccines in different locations, and make a note of which vaccine went where. Ten if there is a reaction—and one swells more than another—you would know which product caused the swelling. If you are giving vaccines at diferent times, you’d be more likely to know which one made your horse dull, with a fever.
“It is always good to use diferent locations, such as diferent sides of the neck, so you know, for future reference, which injection is an issue,” said Hammer. “Also, if you happen to get a bad batch of vaccine or medications, you’d know which one caused the reaction. Keep track of the packaging and the lot number until you know whether the horse is going to react. It’s common to throw everything away, but then, a day or two later, you might want that information if the horse has an abnormal reaction.”
Don’t put injections too close together. If they are on the same side of the neck, keep them a few inches apart.
“If you visualize that triangle of muscle on the side of the neck, you could put one injection toward the tip of that triangle and one more toward the base—making sure it’s not too close to the shoulder,” Hammer said.
not a bug bite or something in the environment that triggered this reaction, you could give the horse a steroid or antihistamine to clear up the hives.
“Sometimes, with hives, it can be diffcult to determine what caused them. It might or might not be the injection, though you would tend to suspect it was an injection reaction if nothing else has changed. But horses can have weird reactions from spider bites, bee stings, different kinds of bedding, shavings. or hay.”
Sire
1 Tough Sunday, 2012, by Grazen
2 Majestic Harbor, 2008, by Rockport Harbor
3 Collected, 2013, by City Zip
4 Empire Way, 2009, by Empire Maker
5 Grazen, 2006, by Benchmark
6 I’ll Have Another, 2009, by Flower Alley
7 Mrazek, 2013, by Square Eddie
8 Om, 2012, by Munnings
9 Curlin to Mischief, 2011, by Curlin
10 Jersey Town, 2006, by Speightstown
11 Pavel, 2014, by Creative Cause
12 Clubhouse Ride, 2008, by Candy Ride (ARG)
13 Jack Milton, 2010, by War Front
14 Stanford,
15
16
17
18
19 Dads Caps, 2010, by Discreet Cat
Sire Rnrs Strts Wnrs Wins Earned
1 Collected, 2013, by City Zip
2 Grazen, 2006, by Benchmark
3 Sir Prancealot (IRE), 2010, by Tamayuz (GB)
4 I’ll Have Another, 2009, by Flower Alley
5 Clubhouse Ride, 2008, by Candy Ride (ARG)
6 Om, 2012, by Munnings
7 Smiling Tiger, 2007, by Hold That Tiger
8 Catholic Boy, 2015, by More Than Ready
9 Midnight Storm, 2011, by Pioneerof the Nile
10 Stanford, 2012, by Malibu Moon
11 Stay Thirsty, 2008, by Bernardini
12 Jack Milton, 2010, by
16
18
1 Empire Way, 2009, by Empire Maker 13 17
2 Mrazek, 2013, by Square Eddie 15
3 Grazen, 2006, by Benchmark
4 Desert Code, 2004, by E Dubai
5 Tough Sunday, 2012, by Grazen
6 Rousing Sermon, 2009, by Lucky Pulpit 12 11 $170,077 $15,104
7 Midnight Storm, 2011, by Pioneerof the Nile 97 68 $1,877,274 $14,350
8 Majestic Harbor, 2008, by Rockport Harbor 23 18 $950,734 $14,211
9 Stanford, 2012, by Malibu Moon
10 Clubhouse Ride, 2008, by Candy Ride (ARG)
11 Collected, 2013, by City Zip
12 I’ll Have Another, 2009, by Flower Alley
13 Dads Caps, 2010, by Discreet Cat 62 60 $1,191,683 $12,572
14 Curlin to Mischief, 2011,
15
16 Cat Burglar, 2010, by Unbridled’s Song
17 Vronsky, 1999, by Danzig
18
19 Jersey Town, 2006, by Speightstown
20
21
1 Grazen, 2006, by Benchmark
2 Majestic Harbor, 2008, by Rockport Harbor
3 Pavel, 2014, by Creative Cause
4 Om, 2012, by Munnings
5 Collected, 2013, by City Zip
6 Mrazek, 2013, by Square Eddie 15 106 $486,368 $4,588
7 Curlin to Mischief, 2011, by Curlin
8 Empire Way, 2009, by Empire Maker
9 Clubhouse Ride, 2008, by Candy Ride (ARG)
10
11
Prancealot
12 Tamarando,
13
14
15 I’ll Have Another,
16
1
2
3
4
5 Pavel,
6 Sir Prancealot (IRE), 2010, by Tamayuz (GB)
7 Grazen, 2006, by Benchmark
8 Listing, 2016, by Square
9
11
12 Gato Del Oro,
13
14
15
16 Smokem,
17
20
1
2
3 Gato
4
5 Smokem, 2015, by Union Rags
6 Collected, 2013, by City
7 Cat Burglar, 2010, by Unbridled’s Song
8 Om, 2012, by Munnings
9 Sir Prancealot (IRE), 2010, by Tamayuz (GB)
10 Grazen, 2006, by Benchmark
11 Stanford, 2012, by Malibu
12
13 Conquest Farenheit,
14 Halladay, 2016, by
Grazen, 2006, by Benchmark
Gato Del Oro, 2014, by Medaglia d’Oro
11 Om, 2012, by Munnings
1 I’ll Have Another, 2009, by Flower Alley
2
3 Pavel,
4 Conquest Farenheit, 2014, by Scat Daddy
5 Gato Del Oro, 2014, by Medaglia d’Oro
6 Stanford, 2012, by Malibu Moon
7 Grazen, 2006, by Benchmark
8 Cat Burglar, 2010, by Unbridled’s Song
9 Sir Prancealot (IRE),
10 Smokem, 2015, by Union Rags
11 Clubhouse
12
15
16
Stallion (Foreign Foaled), Year, Sire
1 Grazen, 2006, by Benchmark
2 Bluegrass Cat, 2003, by Storm Cat
3 Collected, 2013, by City Zip
4 Mr. Big, 2003, by Dynaformer
5 Clubhouse Ride, 2008, by Candy Ride (ARG)
7 Stay Thirsty, 2008, by Bernardini
8 I’ll
9 Sir Prancealot (IRE), 2010, by Tamayuz (GB)
10 Southern Image, 2000, by Halo’s Image
13 Acclamation, 2006, by Unusual
18 Graydar, 2009, by Unbridled’s Song
19 Misremembered, 2006, by Candy Ride (ARG)
20 Desert Code, 2004, by E Dubai
James Street, 2007, by El Prado (IRE)
Passion for Gold, 2007, by Medaglia d’Oro
23 Slew’s Tiznow, 2005, by Tiznow 11 18
24 Tamarando, 2011, by Bertrando
25 Richard’s Kid, 2005, by Lemon Drop Kid
26 Om, 2012, by Munnings
27 Anthony’s Cross, 2008, by Indian Charlie
45 He Be Fire N Ice,
48
49
GUN RUNNER – RED HOUSE, BY TAPIT
WORLD CLASS PEDIGREE
FULL BROTHER TO RED ROUTE ONE, GRADED STAKES WINNER OF $2,165,107
DAM: RED HOUSE
A FULL SISTER TO UNTAPABLE, CHAMPION THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY, BREEDERS’ CUP DISTAFF
2ND DAM: FUN HOUSE – BROODMARE OF THE YEAR DAM OF GRADE 1 WINNERS: CHAMPION UNTAPABLE GR 1 ($3,926,625) AND PADDY O’PRADO GR 1 ($1,721,297) MAJOR SIRE
IMPRESSIVE RACE RECORD
• STAKES WINNER, GRADED STAKES PLACED
• EARNED $574,097 ON DIRT AND TURF
BRED BY WINCHELL THOROUGHBREDS WITH SPEED FIGURES OF 102, 105, 108, 114
2026 FEE: $3,500 LFSN
Discounts for multiple mare stakes and winning producing mares
Santa Anita Park, Arcadia Dec. 26-June 14
Los Angeles County Fair at Los Alamitos, Los Alamitos June 19-July 5
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Del Mar July 17-Sept. 7
Los Alamitos Race Course, Los Alamitos Sept. 9-22
Santa Anita Park, Arcadia Sept. 23-Nov. 3
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Del Mar Nov. 6-29
Los Alamitos Race Course, Los Alamitos Dec. 2-15
SEPTEMBER 30
FASIG-TIPTON FALL YEARLINGS & HORSES OF RACING AGE Pomona, Calif (ENTRIES CLOSE JULY 10)
SATURDAY, MARCH 21
$100,000 Irish O’Brien Stakes Four-Year-Olds & Up, Fillies & Mares abt. 61∕2 furlongs (Turf)
SUNDAY, MARCH 22
$100,000 Sensational Star Stakes Four-Year-Olds & Upw abt. 61∕2 furlongs (Turf)
SATURDAY, APRIL 4
$125,000 Echo Eddie Stakes Tree-Year-Olds 61∕2 furlongs
$125,000 Evening Jewel Stakes Tree-Year-Old Fillies
61∕2 furlongs
FEBRUARY – MAY
SATURDAY, MAY 23
$125,000 Snow Chief Stakes presented by City National Bank Tree-Year-Olds 11∕8 mile (Turf)
$125,000 Melair Stakes Tree-Year-Old Fillies 11∕16 miles
$100,000 Crystal Water Stakes Tree-Year-Olds & Up 1 mile (Turf)
$100,000 Fran’s Valentine Stakes Tree-Year-Olds & Up, Fillies & Mares 1 mile (Turf)
$100,000 Tor’s Echo Stakes Tree-Year-Olds & Up 6 furlongs
FEBRUARY/MARCH
COMING SOON
SHARP 70 ACRE RANCH
THIS RANCH HAS ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES
LOCATED IN BRENTWOOD CA. ARE YOU THINKING OF SELLING? PLEASE SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT FOR US TO VISIT YOUR PROPERTY.
MY PARTNER AND I HAVE BEEN SELLING RANCH PROPERTY FOR OVER 30 YEARS THROUGHOUT NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
ROBIN’S RANCHES (AGENT)
AGENT BRE #01039978
TOWN AND COUNTRY REALTY. CLAYTON, CA
925- 550- 2383
ROBINFROST1@YAHOO.COM
WWW.ROBINSRANCHES.COM
Jan 17
Jan 17
Jan 17
Jan 17
January
January
21
21
21
21
Unusual Heat Turf Classic
Sunshine Millions F/M Turf Sprint
California Chrome California Cup Derby
Don Valpredo California Cup Sprint
California Cup Oaks
California Cup Sprint
Irish O’Brien Stakes
Sensational Star Stakes
Echo Eddie Stakes
Evening Jewel Stakes
Crystal Water Stakes
Snow Chief Stakes
Fran’s Valentine Stakes
Thor’s Echo Stakes
Melair Stakes
Bertrando Stakes
Fleet Treat Stakes
Real Good Deal Stakes
California Dreamin’ Stakes
CTBA Stakes
Graduation Stakes
Solana Beach Stakes
Generous Portion Stakes
I’m Smokin Stakes
California Flag Handicap
California Distaff Handicap
Golden State Juvenile Fillies
Golden State Juvenile
The Chosen Vron Stakes (Formerly Cary Grant Stks)
Betty Grable Stakes
Soviet Problem Stakes
King Glorious Stakes
4-Yr-Olds & Up
4-Yr-Olds & Up
3-Yr-Olds
4-Yr-Olds & Up
3-Yr-Olds
4-Yr-Olds & Up
4-Yr-Olds & Up
4-Yr-Olds & Up
3-Yr-Olds
3-Yr-Olds
3-Yr-Olds & Up
3-Yr-Olds
3-Yr-Olds & Up
3-Yr-Olds & Up
3-Yr-Olds
3-Yr-Olds & Up
3-Yr-Olds
3-Yr-Olds
3-Yr-Olds & Up
2-Yr-Olds
2-Yr-Olds
3-Yr-Olds & Up
2-Yr-Olds
2-Yr-Olds
3-Yr-Olds & Up
3-Yr-Olds & Up
2-Yr-Olds
2-Yr-Olds
3-Yr-Olds & Up
3-Yr-Olds & Up
2-Yr-Olds
2-Yr-Olds
$175,000 $125,000 $175,000 $125,000 $175,000 $125,000 $100,000 $100,000 $125,000 $125,000 $100,000 $125,000 $100,000 $100,000 $125,000 $100,000 $150,000 $150,000 $150,000 $100,000 $100,000 $150,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $175,000 $175,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000 $100,000
BY SIX TIME LEADING CALIFORNIA SIRE AND MULTIPLE G1SW STAY THIRSTY. TWO-YEAR-OLD CALIFORNIA CHAMPION OF 2022.
Stakes Winning 2-Year-Old and Winner of $328,216. Out of a GHOSTZAPPER California Broodmare of the Year MY FIONA and California Champion Filly. 1st Golden State Juvenile S. (def. SLO DOWN ANDY). 2nd Del Mar Futurity (G1) (to PINEHURST, def. PAPPACAP); Best Pal S. (G2) (to PAPPACAP); King Glorious S.; Turf Paradise Derby. 3rd California Cup Derby.
CHAMPION BLOODLINES PROVEN PERFORMANCE GRADED STAKES WINNER OF $379,700.
By QUALITY ROAD – Sire Of Multiple Grade 1 Winners. Out Of The Multiple Stakes Winner, Graded Stakes Producing Mare HOT SPELL (By SALT LAKE) – A Fast, Durable Mare From A Proven Family Of Sprinters And Middle-Distance Horses.
Brilliant racing career that demonstrates his natural talent, durability, and competitive Spirit, Speed, Stamina & Versatility.
CALIFORNIA’S LEADING SIRE. 6 OF LAST 8 YEARS BY EARNINGS. LEADING CA SIRE BY EARNINGS & WINNERS IN 2024. SIRE OF 61 STAKES HORSES INCL. G1 CIGAR MILE WINNER MIND CONTROL ($2,071,834).
Defeated 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner WHITE ABARRIO and Blue Grass S. (G1) winner ZANDON.
8 blacktype stakes horses in 2024 and leading CA 2-year-old sire of 2024, 5 SHs, incl. 5 ¼-length CTBA S. winner IN THE AIR TONIGHT ($120,400), runner-up Thirsty Mama and 3rd THIRSTY IN VEGAS. California’s leading active lifetime sire.