HOTY to be Announced at Annual CTBA Awards Dinner Mar. 12

The 2023 California-bred Horse of the Year will be announced at the CTBA Awards Dinner and Annual Meeting on Tuesday, Mar. 12 at Le Meridien Hotel in Arcadia, CA.

The finalists for Horse of the Year are (in alphabetical order) Ceiling Crusher (Mr. Big), Kings River Knight (Acclamation) and The Chosen Vron (Vronsky).

For ticket information for the Awards Dinner and Annual Meeting, click Annual Meeting & Awards Dinner | CTBA or contact Christy Chapman at Christy@ctba.com.

 

Other Cal-bred champions to be recognized at the banquet:

 

Champion Two-Year-Old Male – Yo Yo Candy, bred by Checkmate Thoroughbreds, owned by Happy Tenth Stable and trained by Daniel Velazquez.

 

Champion Two-Year-Old Female – Grand Slam Smile, bred by owners Mr. & Mrs. Larry Williams and trained by Steven Specht.

 

Champion Three-Year-Old Male – One in Vermillion, bred by Richard Barton Enterprises, owned by Jonathan Kalman, trained by Esteban Martinez.

 

Champion Three-Year-Old Female – Ceiling Crusher, bred by Harris Farms, owned by Wonderland Racing Stables, Todd Cady, Tim Kasparoff and Ty Leatherman, trained by Doug O'Neill.

 

Champion Older Male – The Chosen Vron, bred by Tiz Molly Partners, owned by Eric Kruljac, Robert Fetkin, John Sondereker & Richard Thornburgh, trained by Eric Kruljac.

 

Champion Older Female – Closing Remarks, bred by owner Harris Farms, trained by Carla Gaines.

 

Champion Sprinter – The Chosen Vron, bred by Tiz Molly Partners, owned by Eric Kruljac, Robert Fetkin, John Sondereker & Richard Thornburgh, trained by Eric Kruljac.

 

Champion Turf Horse – Closing Remarks, bred by owner Harris Farms, trained by Carla Gaines.

 

Champion Sire of California Conceived Foals by Earnings – Grazen, property of Nick Alexander.

 

Champion Sire of California Conceived Foals by Number of Winners – Stay Thirsty, property of Terry Lovingier.

 

Champion Sire of California Conceived Foals by Turf Earnings – Grazen, property of Nick Alexander.

 

Champion Sire of California Conceived 2-Year-Olds by Earnings – Stay Thirsty, property of Terry Lovingier.

 

Trainer of the Year – Eric Kruljac.

 

Broodmare of the Year – Lutess, owned by Connie & Mike Pageler.

 

Champion Breeder of California Foaled Thoroughbreds by Earnings – Richard Barton Enterprises.

 

CTBA Hall of Fame – Russell Drake, Clay Murdock, Soviet Problem, Tribal Rule.

 

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Harris, Green and Mathis to Join TOC Board

John C. Harris, Ty Green and Andy Mathis have been appointed to the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC).

Owner of Harris Farms, Harris was inducted into the California Racing Hall of Fame in 2008 and was honored last year by the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation for his industry service. Harris Farms has been connected to over 50 California divisional champions, including eight California Horses of the Year. He is a former California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Commissioner and currently serves on the board of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association (CTBA).

Green, also an owner and breeder, is a current Board Member of the CTBA. The San Luis Obispo-based lawyer has raced under the name of SLO Racing Stable since 2010.

Mathis was the 2021 California Trainer of the Year. He was also leading trainer at the 2023 Golden Gate Fall Meet and finished seventh in the standings during the 2022 Del Mar Summer Meet. Based at Golden Gate Field, the 44-year-old is the winner of just under 800 races in his career. His winners include stakes winners Jimmy Blue Jeans and Give Me The Lute.

All three will serve the TOC Board as representatives of the North. According to TOC president and CEO Bill Nader, board members volunteered names to fill vacancies. “We spoke yesterday and had a productive discussion and will officially ratify the new members in short order,” Nader said.

“We are honored that John, Ty and Andy, well-respected North horsemen, will join our board,” said TOC Chairman Gary Fenton. “We are in a period of great transition and their passion, wisdom and institutional knowledge of California horse racing, in particular the North, will be of tremendous value to the board and our members as we work together to find the right path for the future of California racing.”

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Letter to the Editor: The Future of the North

Behind the scenes there is a battle taking place for the future of racing in Northern California.

Approximately 30 million dollars is at the center of the battle, the projected net revenue from wagering derived in the north. The projection is derived from past revenues generated annually through Thoroughbred simulcast, ADW and live racing wagering in the north.

Under current law, these funds must remain in the north, for the benefit of the north–both for horsemen and any race meet that continues to offer Thoroughbred racing in the future. The powers that be in the south, 1/ST Racing and The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club are pushing to change the law so they can use those monies “to boost” racing in the south.

At the end of the day, these changes are political–the law must be changed. Experience tells me political contributions will certainly flow, if not are flowing already, to influence legislative changes that will undercut the investment and livelihoods of hundreds of horsemen in the north.

Curiously, and disappointingly, the leadership of both the CTBA and the TOC were supportive of the change even before their members learned of it. Each personally offered statements of support to 1/ST Racing that were included in the release announcing the closure of Golden Gate. Even now I find that troubling because, to my knowledge, neither has made any effort to convene their affected members in the north to ascertain first-hand our feelings, ideas, or concerns. No efforts whatsoever.

Without use of the revenues generated in the North, the Thoroughbred industry in the north will disappear. The significant investments made by many of us will be lost without any apparent regard by leadership elected by and for the purpose of representing our interests too.

I'm told neither board has even taken a vote on these issues, yet their chairs and paid executives open and privately advocate for the plans laid out by 1/ST Racing.

Having previously spent time myself on both these boards, I cannot recall a single instance prior leadership ever committed those organizations to such important positions without first having convened membership, held meaningful discussion and debate, then taken action/a vote of the board then made public to their members.

When did the genuine concerns and interests of TOC and CTBA members cease to matter to the leadership of those organizations?

When members' interests are no longer valued by the chair, the chair really should ask themselves, am I still the right person for this job?

Should this become the end of racing in the north, California Thoroughbred owners will have less than half the opportunities to run their horses and breeders will have lost venues that previously hosted races filled by nearly 70% Cal-breds.

All of us should be asking TOC and CTBA leadership why these issues have not come to the forefront in direct discussion and engagement with affected members.

Northern California horsemen and women have a right to know what the lobbyists for these organizations are saying and doing about these legislative changes. We should know how each board member voted on these issues and the minutes of each organization should explain to members why each organization has determined–for the benefit of all its members–to act as they are.

Members of each organization should openly question and challenge those boards and hold them accountable just as we do other elected representatives. They voluntarily chose to represent our collective interests. They have a duty and obligation to explain why they are proceeding in the manner they seem to be, while what seems like a majority of us believe otherwise.

As one owner to another, one breeder to another, I ask you to think about these issues and then join me in asking some serious questions of the TOC and CTBA boards.

–Tom Bachman, Owner and Breeder

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CTBA Northern California Yearling Sale Posts Increase

A son of Vronsky sold for $100,000 to top the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association Northern California Yearling and Horses of Racing Age Sale, which posted year-over-year result increases, the auction said in a release late Tuesday.

With 114 yearlings sold, gross sales were $1,064,900 for an average of $9,260 and median price of $5,500. Last year, 105 yearlings sold for $871,100, an average of $8,296 and median price of $4,500. The average sales price for yearlings this year was 11.6 percent higher than last year.

The sales topper, the first foal out of the Acclamation mare was bred by Harris Farms and Gary Parker and purchased by PT Syndicate #1 and Meister.

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