22 minute read
California Toroughbred Foundation
CTFoundation
2021
OFFICERS AND TRUSTEES
P R E S I D E N T Mrs. Ada Gates Patton
V I C E - P R E S I D E N T Gail Gregson
S E C R E TA RY Amy J. Zimmerman
Jeff Blea, DVM Tracy Gantz Jane Goldstein Courtney Tunney Hotchkis Thomas S. Robbins John W. Sadler Noreen Sullivan Peter W. Tunney
PET Scanner a “Game Changer for Horse Safety”
As a major step forward in diagnostics to aid in Toroughbred racehorse health, the frst-ever standing positron emission tomography (PET) machine was installed on the Santa Anita backstretch in late 2019.
Dr. Mathieu Spriet, an associate professor at the University of California, Davis, developed the Longmile Positron Emission Tomography (MILEPET) Scan machine at the university in partnership with the Brain Biosciences and Longmile Veterinary Imaging Division. The PET machine at Santa Anita
Dr. Jef Blea, a racetrack veterinary practitioner since 1994, noted the advantages the PET scanner brings, saying:
“Te PET scan at Santa Anita, in conjunction with the relationship with Dr. Spriet and his colleagues at UC Davis, has allowed veterinarians here in Southern California to advance the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal issues in racehorses well beyond anyone’s expectations. Tis pioneering technology certainly has been, and will continue to be, a positive game changer for horse safety.”
Dr. Blea, a past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the Southern California Equine Foundation, serves as a trustee of the California Toroughbred Foundation. Te Foundation, dedicated to the advancement of equine research and education, regularly funds scholarships to veterinary students in an efort to further Toroughbred racehorse health and safety.
As such, the Foundation applauds the industry for coming together to bring the PET scanner to Santa Anita. It was a joint efort of many, with Te Stronach Group and the Dolly Green Research Foundation providing the principal funding for the equipment, which has been installed in the nuclear medicine facility, run by the SCEF.
With just over a year in use, the equipment is proving invaluable in keeping California’s equine athletes sound.
TRACY GANTZ
memorial donations
The CTF accepts donations in memory of relatives and friends, with all such donations allocated to Scholarship Funds of the Foundation and to the Carleton F. Burke Memorial Library. Please remember members of our industry with a donation to the CTF memorial fund. Donations may be sent to CTF, 201 Colorado Place, Arcadia, CA 91007. The CTF joins in honoring the memory of those whose names appear in bold type. We also thank and acknowledge the donors for their generous contributions.
JEANNE LAPEYRE CANTY, BRUCE HEADLEY, NAT WESS Jane Goldstein
PHOTOS COURTESY OF OCEAN BREEZE RANCH
I’ll Have Another surveying his new digs at Ocean Breeze Ranch near Bonsall
Ocean Breeze Ranch
HOME SWEET HOME FOR THE REDDAMS’ SOARING CALIFORNIA BREEDING ENTERPRISE
BY LENNY SHULMAN
Along with celebrating the arrival of a widely anticipated new year, there was a homecoming party under way at Ocean Breeze Ranch near Bonsall, where the racetrack hero I’ll Have Another has returned to his racing connections to stand at stud.
Te 2012 champion 3-year-old male, who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes (both G1) before being injured and retired while on the cusp of winning the Triple Crown, returned stateside two years ago from stud duty in Japan. In 2020 he was purchased by principals connected to Reddam Racing, for whom he earned $2,693,600 at the track, and is standing the 2021 season at Ocean Breeze, which is owned by Paul and Zillah Reddam in a trust.
“Everyone has become so attached to him, and he’s very happy to be here,” said Zillah Reddam. “Dennis (O’Neill, who purchased the son of Flower Alley at a 2-year-old sale for Reddam Racing) has come to see him, Mario (Gutierrez, who rode I’ll Have Another) and his family. Everybody takes photos with him.”
I’ll Have Another provided the Reddams with their frst Kentucky Derby triumph (Nyquist would come along four
ANNE M. EBERHARDT
Paul and Zillah Reddam have found the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle with I’ll Have Another (2012) and Nyquist (2016)
RON MESAROS
From left, California’s leading sire Square Eddie, now pensioned, is joined at Ocean Breeze by his Cal-bred son Mrazek; below the Reddams’ Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner I’ll Have Another is also part of the stallion roster
years later to repeat the feat) and holds a special place in their hearts. Standing him at stud seemed a natural decision, considering they had just pensioned from stallion duty another of their racetrack stars, Square Eddie, a year ago.
Square Eddie laid down a marker and will be a tough act to follow, as he has become the sire of dozens of runners who have shown their mettle in California-bred and open competition. On the strength of Square Eddie’s progeny, the Reddams last year led all other California-based breeders in earnings. Te California Toroughbred Breeders Association also will honor Square Eddie as the leading California sire of California-conceived foals by earnings for the third consecutive year.
Joining I’ll Have Another in the Ocean Breeze Ranch stallion complex this year are two other Reddam Racing runners who earned grade 1 victories. Pavel and Mrazek will each try to do their part in picking up the slack from the departure of Square Eddie, who remains a resident of Ocean Breeze.
About fve years ago the Reddams made the decision to purchase the ranch’s 1,290 acres, which are located just a mile from the San Luis Rey Downs training facility. Te land was formerly known as Vessels Stallion Farm and was founded by noted horseman Frank “Scoop” Vessels, a prominent breeder of Quarter Horses. His grandfather, Frank Vessels Sr., founded Los Alamitos Race Course, and Scoop Vessels eventually expanded into Toroughbreds and served as president of the California Toroughbred Breeders Association. In Excess, who would become important in Toroughbred pedigrees largely through his son Indian Charlie, stood at Vessels.
Te Reddams’ connection to Vessels began when they im-
ported a 1998 son of Nureyev to the U.S. early in this century. Momentum became a graded stakes winner in California but raced in tough luck, fnishing second in the Hollywood Gold Cup and the Pacifc Classic (both G1). Te Reddams decided to give him a whirl as a stallion and selected Vessels as the place to stand him, beginning a longtime relationship with the farm.
While Momentum didn’t turn out to be a great sire, the Reddams decided to start turning their horses out at the farm. After Square Eddie earned grade 1 laurels in the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, the Reddams installed him at stud at Vessels beginning in 2010.
“We went down to visit Square Eddie and our other horses at Vessels on a Saturday, and we were walking around and chatting with Scoop Vessels,” remembered Paul Reddam. “And three days later he died in a plane crash. Everyone was shaken. Years later they put the farm up for sale, and we made a deal to buy it in 2015.”
Reddam, who often names his horses with tongue frmly in cheek, came up with the ranch’s name after someone insisted they could feel the ocean breeze at the main house.
Te Reddams retained the staf that had worked at the property when it was Vessels. Kasey Bennett started at Vessels in 2008 and now oversees the operation for the Reddams as the farm manager. Ocean Breeze serves as an early breaking facility for the young horses foaled there, as well as a rehabilitation center for Reddam Racing horses needing a break from the track or recovery time after medical procedures. Some 50 broodmares roam the Ocean Breeze valley.
“Dihigi Gladney, who was the exercise rider for California Chrome, and his team come in and foal them out, and we raise them on pasture for the most part,” said Bennett. “After they’re weaned, our crew will start handling them, and at the 18-month mark we separate them into two groups. Te forward ones get 45-60 days working in the breaking pens, and we’ve made a half-mile track around one of our larger pastures. We have a starting gate we put them through. We also have an arena.
“After that time period we turn that group back out and then bring the second group up and repeat the process. Ten we bring each group back for a three- or four-week refresher course. During that, I’ll ride a pony on the track going against them so they get used to trafc. We take them with the pony horse so they get used to that. Ten we’ll send them to San Luis Rey for more training. After that, Mr. Reddam decides which trainer will get each one.”
Carlos and Kate Cabello head the rehab side, and the Reddams have added several pieces of equipment to increase equine ftness and decrease down time. An underwater treadmill was installed last year. Tere is a standing, saltwater spa, plus a vibration stall. Laser therapy aids post-surgery horses. And there are variably sized paddocks for horses undergoing therapy.
“I would like to do spa treatments like they get,” said Bennett with a laugh.
But the potential stars of Ocean Breeze are its new stallions. When domestic breeders weren’t enthralled with I’ll Have
ANNE M. EBERHARDT PHOTOS
Paul and Zillah Reddam enjoy the success of their California breeding program
We have 40 or 45 mares whom we will spread among I’ll Have Another, Pavel, and Mrazek.”
— Paul Reddam
Spacious paddocks dot Ocean Breeze Ranch, a great place to raise and develop horses
Another as a stallion prospect, he was won the grade 1 Stephen Foster Handi- “and we were going to send him East for sold to Japanese interests. Te chestnut cap in 2018 and placed in several other the Hopeful Stakes (G1) when he tore a son of Flower Alley had a solid if unspec- grade 1 events en route to earning better suspensory. So we sent Ralis in his place, tacular start to his stallion career there. than $2 million. and he won the Hopeful by fve lengths. He has sired graded stakes winner Anoth- “We asked a lot of him on the race- And we thought Mrazek was much beter Truth and several other stakes winners track; always put him in the toughest ter of the two. He wasn’t quite the same and graded stakes placers. spots,” said Reddam. “On his good days when he came back from injury, but he’s
“He sired a lot of winners but no top, he seemed to be in the top echelon and the spitting image of Square Eddie and grade 1 winners,” said Reddam. “He got showed tremendous talent at times. We’re we’ve put a $2,000 stud fee on him.” a lot of useful horses. But most Japanese anxious to see what his frst foals look Te Reddams have a nice ace in the racing is on grass, and so I’m hoping that like, and we’ll go from there. We have 40 hole with Nyquist, to whom they breed the ability he displayed on dirt a couple of mares each season. translates into dirt success here. Nyquist is setting Kentucky on And I’m also hoping that what fre, getting two grade 1 winners were useful horses in Japan trans- from his frst crop in 2020, inlates into nice Cal-bred horses cluding champion 2-year-old flhere.” ly Vequist, winner of the Breed-
Te Reddams were surprised ers’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). when I’ll Have Another was Tey rotate several mares to bought two years ago to stand at breed to Nyquist, bringing them Ballena Vista Farm, since no one home to foal so that their babies in Japan contacted them about are Cal-breds. the move. Tey bred nine mares “He is certainly at the top of to him in 2019 and thus have yearlings by him in 2021. When they heard that I’ll Have Another © BENOIT PHOTO his class,” Reddam noted. “He’s picked up right where he left of as a racehorse. He actually might be sold to Korean interests A Reddam Cal-bred exacta in the 2015 Graduation Stakes got sick before his frst breeding last year, trainer Doug O’Neill, at Del Mar as Mrazek defeats Ralis, who went on to win the season, and his frst crop was relwho conditioned the colt, struck a grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga atively small. So the current crop deal to buy him. O’Neill eventu- of 2-year-olds could be even ally sold his interest in the stallion to the or 45 mares whom we will spread among more exciting. He’s very hot. Reddams. I’ll Have Another, Pavel, and Mrazek.” “You know, Square Eddie far exceed-
I’ll Have Another stands for a $10,000 If anyone is poised to step in for Square ed our expectations. He was a superstar stud fee. Reddam noted he is not con- Eddie, it could well be his son Mrazek. to us, and his progeny could run short cerned about making him a commercial He began breeding mares two years ago or long, on grass or dirt. He moved his success. As with Square Eddie, Reddam when his sire was having fertility issues, mares way up, getting nothing but raceis happy to breed to his horses with or and his small frst crop are yearlings this horses. Now we hope one of these new without interest from outside breeders. season. Te Reddams have an additional guys can jump up and fll his shoes.”
Pavel, a 7-year-old son of Creative 12 mares who will foal Mrazek babies this Given the uncertainty of the pandemCause, carries a $4,000 stud fee. He be- year. ic’s efect on the industry, it’s a distinct gan breeding mares in 2020, and his frst “Mrazek walloped Ralis in the Gradu- positive to note that in 2021 there at least foals are now hitting the ground. Pavel ation Stakes at Del Mar,” said Reddam, will be a defnite buzz at the Breeze.
R a n c h o S a n M i g u e l
BOOK NOW FOR THE 2021 SEASON
HEARTWOOD
TAPIT – MAPLE FOREST, BY FORESTRY Black-type stakes winner at 3, 4, and 5 and earner of $486,891 in fve seasons of racing Son Of Three-Time Leading Sire TAPIT Both frst and second dams are Graded Stakes-Placed Stakes Winners and Stakes Producers 2021 Fee: $2,500 LFSN
NORTHERN CAUSEWAY
GIANT’S CAUSEWAY – GETAWAY GIRL, BY SILVER DEPUTY Graded Derby Winner Ranked among the Top Three Cumulative Third-Crop Sires! TWENTY-TWO winners to date. First-crop represented by more than 77% winners! 2021 Fee: $2,000 LFSN
SLEW’S TIZNOW
TIZNOW – HEPATICA, BY SLEWPY Stakes winners on Dirt, Turf and Synthetic, from 5 Furlongs to 9 Furlongs. Ranked among the Top FOUR Active California Sires by Lifetime Percentage Black-type Winners! Sire of more than 17% $100K Earners! 2021 Fee: $3,000 LFSN
SURF CAT
SIR CAT – TRUST GRETA, BY CENTRUST Grade 1-placed Winner of Six Grade 2 Stakes, Including the San Carlos H. (twice) and Mervyn LeRoy H. (twice) Sire of Multiple Champion Sircat Sally, Graded Stakes Winner of $552,800 and California’s HORSE OF THE YEAR; and Grade 3 winner San Onofre ($402,730) 2021 Fee: $2,500 LFSN
Committed to Breeding Quality R a n c h o S a n M i g u e l
Kaleem Shah’s Bella Vita lands her frst stakes victory in the Spring Fever at Santa Anita
PRE T T Y G I R L
SHAH FILLY FINDS THE GOOD LIFE IN SPRING FEVER
BY TRACY GANTZ
Bayern’s biggest victory came at Santa Anita for owner Kaleem Shah in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). So it was appropriate that Shah’s California-bred Bella Vita, a daughter of Bayern, should get her frst stakes victory, the $101,000 Spring Fever Stakes Feb. 21, at the same track.
Tough she had been away from the races since last May, Bella Vita attracted considerable attention in the six-furlong Spring Fever for Cal-breds and California-sired older fllies and mares. In four previous starts she had never fnished worse than third, placing in the 2020 China Doll Stakes against open company and the Golden State Series Evening Jewel Stakes, also last year.
Against six others, Bella Vita went of as the 3-10 favorite. Bettors made stakesplaced Hotitude the 7-1 second choice. Te feld also included 2019 Fleet Treat Stakes winner Hollywood Hills, as well as Dr Wysong, second in the 2019 Evening Jewel, and Square Peggy, second in the 2018 Barretts Debutante Stakes.
Hotitude set the early pace, with Square Peggy looming up to take command after hopping at the start. But on the turn, Bella Vita cruised to the front under jockey Flavien Prat. Shah’s flly dominated through the stretch to win by 41⁄2 lengths in 1:10.33. She’s a Dime ran second, with Dr Wysong third. Simon Callaghan trains 4-year-old Bella Vita for Shah. “We were really looking forward to the race,” said Callaghan. “She’d been training really well coming into it.” Callaghan told Prat that he had confdence in Bella Vita, despite the trainer’s feeling she might be one work short. BENOIT PHOTO © “One thing about this flly—she’s very tractable,” Callaghan said. “You can put her wherever you want.” Prat agreed, saying, “I thought I was on the best horse, and I was. She broke well, and we got a good position up close. She was push button, and she did it on her own.”
John Sikura bred Bella Vita in the name of Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings. Bayern stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa near Paris, Ky. Queenie Cat foaled Bella Vita at BG Toroughbreds in Hemet and was bred back to California stallion Misremembered.
An unraced daughter of Storm Cat, Queenie Cat has produced six winners in seven starters. She is a half sister to champion Vindication and to stakes winners Scipion and In Step. Te second dam is graded winner Strawberry Reason.
Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency consigned Bella Vita to the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sale, where Voric Stables bought her for $75,000. Harris Training Center sold her to Shah at the 2019 Ocala Breeders’ Sales’ spring sale of 2-year-olds for $400,000. She was one of several who breezed an eighth-mile in :094⁄5, the fastest time at the sale’s under-tack preview.
CTBA Member PROFILE DAVE HOFMANS
BY EMILY SHIELDS
CAL-BRED TRAINER EXTOLS THE CAL-BRED PROGRAM
Dave Hofmans is quick to point out that not only does he love and support the California-bred racing program, he is a Cal-bred himself.
“I was born and raised right here in Southern California,” the af able trainer said. On top of that, he has a marvelous Golden State runner currently in the barn in Big Fish, and his all-time favorite horse was a Cal-bred, too.
After growing up in the sport as a groom and hot-walker, Hofmans spent time working for trainers Bobby Frankel and Farrell Jones. He got his f rst win as a trainer in 1974 over the hallowed Santa Anita course and has been winning races there ever since.
In 1986 Hofmans began an association with Georgia Ridder, widow of B.J. “Ben” Ridder; both of the Ridders were active members of the California breeding and racing community and had resided in nearby Pasadena. T eir standout stallion Flying Paster won the Santa Anita and Hollywood Derbies and was the 1978 Cal-bred Horse of the Year. Flying Paster stood in California and sired numerous f eet runners, including Hofmans trainee Past Ages.
After Past Ages won his f rst two starts, the dark bay gelding placed in a pair of graded stakes events before taking the 1989 California Breeders’ Champion Stakes. Past Ages ultimately lost the honor of being the state’s top juvenile that year to a horse named Individualist, who was running for Golden Eagle Farm. T e trainer? Dave Hofmans.
During that 1989 season, Hofmans spent the entire year winning at a 29% clip, and a lot of that was thanks in part to Georgia Ridder.
“T ere were a few of those good Flying Paster colts I got,” Hofmans said.
While His Legacy wasn’t a son of Flying Paster, he was Hofmans’ favorite horse of all time. T e Cal-bred son of Pocketful in Vail – Quella B., by Don B., ran 47 times with 14 wins, 11 seconds, and six thirds, earning $420,925. His Legacy raced through age 9, and owner Pete Parrella retired him to his Legacy Ranch, where the gelding lived out his life with another talented runner, the Quarter Horse Griswold.
“T at was undoubtedly my favorite horse ever; my son (Grant) and I loved that horse,” said Hofmans.
One race Hofmans will never forget is His Legacy’s f nal start, the 1994 California Cup Starter Handicap. T e 9-year-old had already won the race twice and f nished second in it once.
Hofmans has trained many standout horses—among them, 1996 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) shocker Alphabet Soup, owned by Georgia Ridder. Alphabet Soup defeated the great Cigar that day, Cigar f nishing third. Hofmans also trained 1997 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Touch Gold, 2003 Breeders’ Cup Distaf (G1) surprise Adoration, and Awesome Again during his early career. Awesome Again won Canada’s Queen’s Plate in 1997 while in Hofmans’ care.
Adoration also gave
ANNE M. EBERHARDT
Hofmans perhaps his most gratifying victory the year after she won her Breeders’ Cup race at 40-1. Tree starts later she won the 2004 Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap (G1) at Santa Anita. It validated Adoration’s ability, proving that the Breeders’ Cup wasn’t an anomaly.
“People were saying it was a fuke; the favorite (Sightseek) didn’t fre,” Hofmans recalled of the Breeders’ Cup. “But after winning at Del Mar and running third in her prep at Santa Anita, I looked over the Distaf feld and I thought it wasn’t that tough. To come back and win another grade 1 a few months later, that was really great.”
Hofmans has developed other grade 1 stars, such as 2016 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) hero Melatonin and the brilliant Siphonic, a grade 1 winner at 2 who lost his life too early. Trough it all, Cal-breds were Hofmans’ bread and butter, including the popular Greg’s Gold.
A hulking gray gelding, Greg’s Gold (Lake George—Lake Windermere, by Fit to Fight) was a homebred for Bill Boswell. His pedigree suggested he should like both two turns and the grass, which is how he debuted for another barn. Greg’s Gold fnished a lackluster eighth. Hofmans in the winner’s circle following the victory of Cal-bred
When Greg’s Gold was transferred into the Hofmans outft, Melatonin in the 2016 Santa Anita Handicap the trainer agreed that routing on the grass was probably the answer, but he merely wanted to get a race into the horse. In just his third start Big Fish broke his maiden going a mile on Hofmans ran him at six furlongs on the Del Mar dirt, and at the grass at Del Mar. He wheeled right back to add the $102,500 22-1 Greg’s Gold nearly won the race. Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes, but a ffth-place efort in the Zuma
“I got fooled,” Hofmans said. “He proved to be an exception- Beach Stakes knocked him out of Breeders’ Cup contention. ally fast horse, and quite the Cal-bred.” Big Fish, running well against open company, switched to the
Greg’s Gold was stakes-placed and a multiple winner before dirt for the $200,000 California Cup Derby Jan. 16. He won he took the $300,000 Bing Crosby Handicap (G1) at Del Mar impressively, rallying from second-last in an eight-horse feld. in 2005. He missed all of Big Fish has earned $229,018 2006 due to tendon trouble with three wins in eight starts. but returned as good as ever to “He is such a cool horse, so add the $306,000 Pat O’Brien smart,” Hofmans said. “He just Handicap (G2), $200,000 Po- trains himself and reminds me trero Grande (G2), $150,000 of Awesome Again that way. You Tiznow Stakes, and $107,800 can’t make him go faster than he On Trust Handicap to his wants, or slower. Tose horses resume. He was never named are a dream to have because they the state’s champion sprinter, are so intelligent.” as he had the misfortune to For as long as he continues race at the same time as stars Idiot Proof, Tor’s Echo, and Bordonaro, but he earned $1,067,923. © BENOIT PHOTOS training, Hofmans will continue to support the Cal-bred program. “It’s a very good program,”
“We took advantage of the Hofmans’ latest Cal-bred success is Big Fish, winner of the he said. “It gives people an Cal-bred program with him, California Cup Derby for Pete and Evelyn Parrella’s Legacy Ranch opportunity to develop a very and it wasn’t as good back then nice horse that they’ve bred and as it is now,” Hofmans said. followed. It gives them the chance to run for purse money they
Luckily for the trainer, he gets to try again with the program normally wouldn’t have. I think the program is working and is in 2021. Te 78-year-old trainer has been given the keys to just going to get better.” another Cal-bred gelding, Big Fish. George Krikorian bred the Hofmans added that he doesn’t have plans to retire anytime son of Mr. Big – Perched, by Into Mischief, and Pete and Eve- soon. lyn Parrella purchased him for $45,000 at the 2019 California “I’m 78 years old and I love it,” he said. “I wouldn’t still be Toroughbred Breeders Association Northern California sale. getting up at 5 a.m. every day if I didn’t enjoy it.”
