Liberal Arts A Ferraro Family Adventure

His father had long since ceased training, but they still always stood at the same point by the Santa Anita paddock.

“There was a spot there, where the horses come out from the saddling enclosure and make a right,” Evan Ferraro recalls.

“From there you could look at them straight on, so you could see their conformation, their joints, and my dad would point stuff out to me.”

And there was one filly by In Excess (Ire) that just blew the veteran horseman away: a Harris Farms homebred, saddled by Carla Gaines to win on debut down the turf chute. This was 2005, soon after Evan had graduated USC as an English major.

Since then, he has become a familiar face through 15 years at Fasig-Tipton, where he is now director of marketing. But at the time he was still wondering about emulating his father Stephen, who had for 20 years operated a small barn on the Southern California circuit before retiring in 1990 to join the family's vending-machine business.

Stephen Ferraro | Ralph Merlino

“He liked to have a 12-to-16 horse stable, and back then you could make a good living doing that,” Evan says. “It was a different time. But he was well respected and had some nice graded stakes horses.”

Evan was doubly blessed, then, not only to grow up in the immaculate climate of Sierra Madre-around the corner from Charlie Whittingham-but also to have many formative experiences on the backside.

“I just loved getting up early and hanging out at the track,” Evan says. “I'd sit in the tack room while Dad worked, walk out with him to watch training, or he'd put me on the outrider's pony, things like that. Santa Anita was still getting 30,000 people at the races during the week, and 50,000 on the weekends, as standard.”

To this day, Stephen retains a box at Santa Anita. But his attention over recent months has shifted to Kentucky-and all thanks to that In Excess filly. Her name was Never to Excess, and Stephen knew the family well. The dam had won the Torrey Pines S. at Del Mar and was a half-sister to elite winners Fabulous Notion (Somethingfabulous) and Cacoethes (Alydar).

Never to Excess only managed a couple more starts. “But my dad just loved her in the paddock, every time, and it was a family he'd always revered,” Evan says. “In fact the first broodmare he ever owned, in the '60s, was from this family. So eventually he inquired whether John Harris would consider selling her. Mr. Harris already had a lot of the family, so fortunately he agreed and let us into it.”

The Ferraros sent her to Tribal Rule, a son of Storm Cat who tore up the track a couple of times in a curtailed career for Pam and Martin Wygod. Here they had some extra encouragement from Evan's mom Richmond, who had brought her own Turf pedigree from the opposite coast. Her mother had managed several farms in northern Virginia, including a stint running a training barn for none other than Liz Tippett.

View from the Santa Anita Park grandstand | Horsephotos

“Oh yeah, we're a racing family,” Evan says. “That's how I got the bug, being around it so much. My paternal grandmother was a racing commissioner [in California] in the '80s. And my mother did stallion advertising for years, and worked for Barretts during that company's whole existence. Anyway she was doing advertising for the Wygods, so we knew how talented Tribal Rule had been. He never won a stake or anything, but in his few races he'd put up a couple of incredible, open-length romps in fast times. And that speed was what worked for us, raising Cal-breds.”

So they bred Never to Excess to Tribal Rule three times running. The first foal was stakes-placed on his second start, albeit didn't really build from there. But the Ferraros struck gold with the third, a 2009 filly they named Ismene. (She was Antigone's sister, never inclined to excess: Stephen, demonstrably, had also majored in literature!)

“She was raised by Russell Drake, Mr. Wygod's farm manager,” Evan says. “And all along he told my dad, 'This is a really nice filly you've got here.' Dad put her in training with Bill Spawr, an old buddy of his. Patrick Valenzuela rode her at Del Mar in her first race, and she 'whistled.' And then she came back and won two stakes: the Anoakia at Oak Tree, against open company, and then the Cal Breeders [Champion S.] on opening day at Santa Anita.”

That qualified Ismene as champion state-bred filly of her crop. Unfortunately she had to sit out her sophomore campaign with a knee chip, but she returned to finish runner-up three times in stakes company at four. She even took a swing at the GI Breeders Cup' Filly and Mare Sprint, but that proved a bridge too far and they retired her.

Never to Excess had shown speed, class and versatility, being effective on dirt, turf and synthetic. Throw in the looks that had captivated Stephen, and some elite blood close up, and Ismene appeared a very eligible proposition for her next career.

Clocker's Corner | Zoe Metz

Her first date was with Lucky Pulpit, freshly exalted by his son California Chrome. And there was a sentimental connection here, too, Evan having held Lucky Pulpit in the breeding shed during his first season at stud.

“I'd gone to Harris Farms to get some experience,” he explains. “I'd worked at TVG for my last semester of college, as a production assistant, but wanted to get closer to the horses. So I went to work there and did a little bit of everything: breeding shed, worked with mares and foals, yearling sales prep, sales consignments, just learning all the aspects of a horse farm.”

Then one morning at Clockers' Corner he was introduced to Walt Robertson, at the time president of Fasig-Tipton, and sent him a resumé. Evan was offered an internship, and has never looked back.

“So that's how I ended up not being a trainer,” he says with a smile. “The hours were better, and it was a lot of fun. I got to travel-and I saw that these Fasig-Tipton guys all eat pretty well!”

We'll come back to life at Fasig, but meanwhile let's not forget the mare we left with Lucky Pulpit. Their daughter made $90,000 as a yearling and won a stakes. Next came an Acclamation filly, who brought $160,000 and was placed in four stakes. “She was gorgeous, still is,” Evan says. “I think she was as high a priced filly as her sire ever had. So after those first two, because she was showing herself to be a good producer, we decided to bring Ismene to Kentucky.”

Her first couple of covers in the Bluegrass did not prove productive, but then they rolled the dice with an upgrade to Arrogate.

“He was a horse my dad saw coming up the ranks in California, and always loved,” Evan explains.  “And he believed strongly in a cross to Caro [grandsire of In Excess]. That's what he got with that first foal, with Lucky Pulpit [whose dam is by Caro's son Cozzene]. And then with Arrogate, you get it through Unbridled's Song [out of a Caro mare].”

Right from the outset, James Herbener Jr. was upbeat about the resulting colt.

“Jimmy was just as good a horseman as there was in Kentucky,” Evan says. “And though he usually never said a whole lot, he was pretty high on this foal the whole way.”

So was there a temptation to convert that promise into dollars and cents, at a certain auction house down the road on the Newtown Pike?

“Yeah, we hemmed and hawed about it,” admits Evan. “You had to, because that's how you keep the whole thing going. But this was such a cool horse. And finally my dad just said, 'I want to race him.' We thought that potentially he could be a bit special, certainly he was the best-bred we'd ever had, and at my dad's age [80] he'd rather just give the horse a shot.”

Liberal Arts | Coady Photography

As a pair of English majors, with a mare named from Greek myth, Stephen and Evan named the colt Liberal Arts. They put him into pre-training with Robbie Medina. Then at Blackwood, Medina subsequently decided to open a public stable based at the Thoroughbred Training Center in Lexington.

“And when Robbie went out on his own, we just kept it simple, kept the horse where he was doing well,” says Evan. “Robbie had broken the horse for us, he'd spoken highly of him and wanted to continue on with him. I'd met Robbie several years back, through a good friend and colleague at Fasig-Tipton, Max Hodge. They'd worked together for Shug [McGaughey] way back when, and remained very close friends. So I knew how good a horseman Robbie was.”

For these patrons, Medina had to meet high standards. For Stephen had learned much about their calling from his friend Willard Proctor, the Texas hardboot who had trained his first winner in 1933. Sure enough, Liberal Arts has been given a fairly throwback grounding as a 2-year-old.

“He's had an old school campaign, really,” Evan notes. “He ran five furlongs at Churchill in May, six furlongs a month later at Ellis, and then broke his maiden five or six weeks later, going seven furlongs. Then he had a one-turn mile race in the [GIII] Iroquois. He had a bit of trouble, almost clipped heels in the stretch. I don't know if he would have caught the winner, but I think that cost him second anyways.”

But that's the whole point: if a horse gets to learn its trade by racing, those little reverses can be worn as learning experiences. Okay, this year we had a GI Kentucky Derby winner unraced until late January; but runner-up Two Phil's (Hard Spun) showed that the time-honored “school of hard knocks” remains as valid as ever. In the big picture, then, the Iroquois could be counted a net gain.

“Absolutely,” agrees Evan. “That was the deal all along. He was just starting to mature, and we knew that he was going to like going two turns. Robbie was really excited to stretch him out in the [GIII] Street Sense S., and he relished it. I know there was the off-going, but I think he benefitted from the distance more than anything.”

Certainly it was a revelatory performance, Liberal Arts bursting through from the rear to take control in the stretch, hitting the wire in full cry. While you sometimes see odd scenarios in slop, this just looked like a horse for whom everything is falling into place.

“I watched every race that day, and nobody else made up that much ground,” Evan reflects. “He's really learned to relax and turn off a little bit. He's an unusual horse. Truthfully, we thought he'd be a fall 2-year-old. He's a good-sized horse by Arrogate. I think Arrogate's only had one other 2-year-old colt win a graded stakes, and that was Cave Rock.”

“But Robbie broke this horse and then just went on with him, because he kept picking it up. He didn't want to stop on him, when he was going along so naturally. The horse has learned with each race, and hopefully he's only going to get better as he gets older. He's got a great foundation now, with five starts in him, and I think he's only just getting into what he wants to do. Hopefully, that bodes well for him as a 3-year-old.”

Liberal Arts under the Twin Spires | Coady Photography

The Ferraros know the game too well to be getting carried away. Its vagaries have already intruded poignantly, in that Ismene is no longer around. But for all the lows that must be weighed against its occasional highs, somehow the captivation of our sport never fades.

Certainly Evan adores the life. “I love going to farms, being on the road, working with the people breeding and raising these horses, and trying to direct them to the best place possible to get the best return they can,” he says. “I do advertising and marketing, but I'm also inspecting horses, recruiting for the November Sale, handling certain accounts. We all wear a lot of different hats at Fasig-Tipton. We have a tremendous team and a wonderful working environment.”

That team spirit at Fasig has certainly contributed to the enjoyment Evan and his father are deriving from Liberal Arts. Even the heartbreaking loss of Herbener, in September 2021, ended up widening the circle of engagement.

“We were all just rattled, it was such a sad deal,” Evan recalls. “And then when his family decided not to go on with a boarding operation, we had to find a spot for Liberal Arts to be raised. So then Bayne Welker, another colleague at Fasig-Tipton, steps in and says, 'I need one more colt on my farm to pair some stuff up. I'd be happy to take him.' So he and his wife Chris raise him as a yearling for us.”

Those extra layers have made the emergence of Liberal Arts feel extra special.

“I think about all that stuff,” Evan says. “We bred our only mare to this horse my dad always really liked; decided not to sell; he was raised by Jimmy; Jimmy passes away, a colleague and friend steps in; and then another one introduces us to the guy who trains him. Robbie goes out on his own, and Liberal Arts becomes his first graded stakes winner. And it's actually the first time I've been in partnership with my dad, the first time our names have ever been on the program together.

“So there's a lot of different pieces all fitting together. I can't say enough about the job Robbie has just done, developing this horse. He's a first-class horseman, with great staff. It's a long ways to get this horse to the big dance. If we get there, it's because he's going to take us there; we're not going to take him. But before the Breeders' Cup, he was the top-ranked horse by Derby points. That felt pretty wild. You've got to stay grounded, because so much can change or go wrong. But no, we're really excited.”

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Three Champs Lead Class of 2023 into Hall of Fame

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Co-owner and co-breeder Steve Coburn was a quotable presence during California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit)'s fine career and delivered again Friday when the California-bred was inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame.

Champions California Chrome, Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) and Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro), all in their first year of eligibility, joined jockey Corey Nakatani in the contemporary class of 2023. Fernando Toro was selected by the Historic Review Committee. Three people–the late John Hanes II, the late Leonard Jerome and Stella F. Thayer–were inducted as Pillars of the Turf in the ceremony at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion.

Award-winning journalist Edward Bowen, a museum trustee who has chaired a number of Hall of Fame committees, was presented with the inaugural Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Award for his contributions to the museum.

With his big cowboy hat in hand, Coburn accepted for California Chrome, winner of the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S. and G1 Dubai World Cup and a two-time Horse of the Year. California Chrome won 16 of 27 starts, a total of seven Grade I races and earned $14,752,650.

Coburn thanked the horse for taking him and his wife in a remarkable journey over five seasons. He praised the work of trainer Art Sherman and his son and assistant Alan, and the staff, who he named, for the way they developed and handled the horse.

California Chrome's story–from his modest breeding, to difficulty the mare Love the Chase had with his foaling, to his personality and his connections–blended nicely with his success on the track and produced a legion of fans who called themselves “Chromies.”

“The mare had problems giving birth to Chrome, so as a baby, he was in the stall with the mare,” Coburn said. “He wasn't turned out with the rest of them. The only time he got to play with anybody was when they came to check on him. That's how come he became so loveable to people. He just liked people. I don't know how to express the love that people gave this horse. The Chromies are here. They've come in from all over the place, you know. Thank you.”

As he moved to the end of his remarks, Coburn, hesitated for a moment to control his emotions.

“Last but not least, I would like to thank that little nervous filly, Love the Chase,” he said. “Without her we wouldn't have Chrome and for Chrome to be inducted into the Hall of Fame it's indescribable. Just like winning the Kentucky Derby. This is a good way to say that story has come to an end. I told Laffit Pincay, III after he won the Santa Anita Derby, 'Mark my words. This horse is going to go down in history.' And today's the day. Period.”

Nakatani, 52, was the final inductee on the program. He came to the sport as a teenager with no background with horses, but fashioned an outstanding 31-year career. He won 3,909 races; 10 of his 341 graded stakes wins came in the Breeders' Cup. His $234,554,534 in purse earnings ranks 14th.

To describe his attitude and determination, Nakatani told the story of what he did in a game of youth football. He said he weighed about 58 pounds at the time and was told by his coach to run around a defensive player to score a touchdown. Instead, he decided to try to run over the other player and was stopped on the two-yard line.

“Long story short, that was the first time that I was told not to do something and was like 'I better just go it.' That tells my career in a nutshell,” he said as the audience roared.

Nakatani was built to be a jockey, and, despite his lack of experience, he developed the skill needed to succeed against the odds on the tough Southern California circuit.

“The guys I was riding against were Gary Stevens, Chris McCarron, Laffit Pincay,  all these Hall of Fame riders,” he said. “I was very fortunate to have an opportunity to ride with them and take a lot of learning from all of it. Sandy Hawley. Alex Solis. All the guys that I had the chance to ride with, even the King of Saratoga, Angel (Cordero, Jr.). These guys have a special place in my heart.”

Toro, 82, did not make the cross-continent trip from his home in California and will be honored at Del Mar. The native of Chile, was a top rider in his home country before moving to California in 1966. He retired in 1990 with North America totals of 3,555 victories and purse earnings of $56,299,765. He won 80 graded stakes. At the time of his retirement, he was sixth in stakes wins at Del Mar, eighth at Hollywood Park and tied for eighth at Santa Anita.

During the ceremony, a video was shown of how California turf writers Jay Hovdey and Jay Privman told Toro that he had been elected to the Hall of Fame.

Arrogate, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, showed that he had the makings of a superstar in the 2016 GI Travers just down the street from the sales pavilion at Saratoga Race Course. In his first graded stakes attempt, he won by 13 1/2 lengths and broke a 37-year-old track record for 1 1/4 miles. He went on to win the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, edging California Chrome, the 2017 GI Pegasus World Cup and the 2017 Dubai World Cup in a seven-race win streak. The gray colt owned by Juddmonte Farm retired with a record $17,422,600 in purse earnings.

Dr. John Chandler accepted on behalf of Juddmonte Farms, the racing powerhouse launched by the late Saudi Prince Khalid bin Abdullah.

“It's very sad that Prince Khalid himself unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago,” Chandler said. “He would have liked to have been here and appreciate the recognition.”

Arrogate was a departure from the norm for Prince Khalid's international stable.

“For many years at Juddmonte, we had a lot of turf horses, because our racing started in England,” Chandler said. “We were going through a bad spell after our trainer Bobby Frankel passed away. The Prince had been looking through all the results, week after week, and he said, 'This man in California, Bob Baffert, is doing very well isn't he, training a lot of winners. Why don't we send him some horses?'”

Since Baffert mainly trained dirt horses, Chandler said the turf horses bred by Juddmonte would not be a good fit. He said the Prince said, 'So, we'll buy some dirt horses.' The trainer and Garrett (O'Rourke, Juddmonte's U.S. manager), went to the sales and they bought some horses, some nice, expensive dirt horses. One of them turned out to be Arrogate. That brought the Prince more pleasure than anything else that I'd seen in a long time. We're very grateful to the Hall of Fame committee to take our horse. All I can say is thank you.”

Songbird, owned by the late Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farm, started her career with 11 consecutive victories and retired in 2017 with a record of 13 wins and two seconds from 15 starts. Trained by Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, she secured Grade I victories at two, three and four and earned $4,692,000.

“In her 15 races, it took being a champion to beat Songbird,” said Fox Hill manager Victoria Keith. “She lost, finishing second twice, to Beholder and champion Forever Unbridled.”

Keith described Songbird as a talented but laid-back filly.

“You often hear that great racehorses have a fiery side and this contributes to them being a great race horse,” she said. “You particularly hear this about speed horses. Songbird was a speed horse but she had no fiery side. She's a sweet, loving and gentle horse.”

Keith and Porter's widow, Betsy, accepted Songbird's plaque.

“We are so pleased that Songbird is being inducted into the Hall of Fame,” Keith said. “We consider it not only an honor for Songbird, but also for Rick Porter and Fox Hill Farm. It is bittersweet because we dearly wish that it was Rick on the stage today.”

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First Foal for Millionaire Mo Forza

Grade I winner and millionaire Mo Forza (Uncle Mo) was represented by his first foal, a California-bred filly out of Californiasunshine (Lucky Pulpit), Jan. 10. Mo Forza, who racked up a record of 15-8-3-1 and earnings of $1,034,460, which included wins in the GI Hollywood Derby and six other Grade II races, stands at Rancho San Miguel in California for a fee of $9,000.

“She is quite a character already, thrilling everyone with her looks,” co-owner and breeder Alice Bamford said of the newborn filly. “In addition to being correct, she is a beautiful mover and a very good reason for her mama to return to Mo Forza next year.”

Mo Forza will be available for inspection during Rancho San Miguel's 2023 Open House & Stallion Show Jan. 21. Reservations are encouraged. For more information, call (805) 467-3847 or email info@ranchosanmiguel.net.

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Puype Has Marathoner Ward ‘n Jerry Primed For Upcoming San Juan Capistrano

Ward 'n Jerry has yet to see a turf marathon he didn't fancy.

The 8-year-old gelded son of Lucky Pulpit – bred in California by long-time successful proponents of racing in the Golden State,  Mr. and Mrs. Larry Williams – seeks his third straight victory next Saturday when he runs in the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano Stakes for 3-year-olds and up at 1 ¾ miles on turf at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

“This has been my destination race for him and he's ready to roll,” trainer Mike Puype said.

Ward 'n Jerry, a committed closer in a career of 27 races, of which he has won eight and earned $468,259, turned in an uncharacteristic performance in last year's San Juan, setting the pace before finishing third, beaten five lengths.

“He's doing good,” said Puype, enjoying a typically solid meet with 27 victories from 124 starts, a 22 percent winning average, with earnings of $1,201,884.

“The horse ran off a little bit in the race last year but he's not doing that anymore, so he should be all right this time around.”

Ward 'n Jerry worked five furlongs on the main track Saturday morning in 1:02 flat.

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