Action-Packed Day at OwnerView Conference

Excitement. Ticket to cash flow. A milestone. The ultimate thrill. Exhilaration. Humility. Everything. These are the words written on whiteboards by Breeders' Cup-winning owners during Day 2 of OwnerView's Thoroughbred Owners Conference, addressing what winning a Breeders' Cup race means to them.

The panel featured new and longtime owners alike, in attendance at Santa Anita's FrontRunner Restaurant for the conference. The panel included Breeders' Cup-winning owners Ken Kinakin, John Amerman, Dean Reeves, Billy Koch, and Barbara Banke.

TVG's Simon Bray moderated the event and like a game show, prompted the panel to write down a word or phrase on individual whiteboards that captured their highs in horse racing. Bray began the morning by showing those in attendance a clip of each panelist's winning Breeders' Cup race. The first race put up on the screen was the 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic, Curlin's romp in the slop at Monmouth Park. Stonestreet Farm's Barbara Banke then relayed a story about that rain-drenched day and what it was like winning with her horse.

“The morning of that race, I went to a handicap seminar,” Banke said. “My husband was still asleep and this handicapper said Curlin couldn't possibly win the the race. I thought, 'that sucks.' And on top of that, the weather was so horrible. Then, we got to the track and at the end of the day, the sun came out, [Curlin] looked terrific. He was a big, heavy horse and we worried about him slipping out on the first turn, but once he cleared the turn, that was when we knew he was home free. I think Curlin is responsible for my horse addiction.”

Bray then asked Banke how she got into horse racing.

“I run a wine company [Jackson Family Wines] and my late husband, Jess Jackson, was a micromanager, he wanted to be involved in every aspect of the business,” Banke quipped as the audience broke out into laughter. “So I told him, 'why don't you spend your time doing something else?' So he bought a horse at a horse sale, that didn't work out, and then he bought hundreds more,” she continued with a chuckle. “Eventually we bought our first really good stakes winner, Forest Music, dam of Maclean's Music, who now stands at stud at Hill 'n' Dale Farm.”

When asked about where Curlin's Breeders' Cup trophy is displayed, said Banke, “I have both the Dubai World Cup and Breeders' Cup trophies on the mantle, along with my two Preakness trophies.”
The panel discussion continued with Little Red Feather Racing's Billy Koch, who got emotional after a replay was put up on the screens replaying Singletary's win in the 2004 Breeders' Cup Mile.

“I'm already crying in a matter of seconds,” Koch said. “I can't tell you how many times I've watched that race.”

Koch was then prompted to give his advice to new owners thinking about making the plunge into racing.

“You need a lot of luck and you have to surround yourself with good people that have your best interests in mind,” Koch said. “There are so many ways to get involved in this game; if you get involved in a partnership like Little Red Feather Racing, it's a good way to learn from people who've been in the game for awhile and a good way to dip your toe into the sport.”

John Amerman of Amerman Racing, LLC, concurred with that council. Amerman, who served as Chairman of Mattel for 11 years, said he first got into racing through syndication.

“When my wife, Jerry, and I were first married, we lived down on the Jersey Shore and on the weekends, we'd go to Monmouth Park.  One evening, Jerry said to me, 'Wouldn't it be nice to own a Thoroughbred horse?' Fast forward and we're living in California, and we get a postcard that says, 'You too, can own a Thoroughbred horse.' And so we went down and talked to a syndicate named Clover Racing, who owned Star of Cozzene; he won the Arlington Million and then we sold him to Japan for a lot of money. So think about a syndicate,” Amerman concluded.

Amerman added a story about 2003 Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Adoration that was quite popular with the crowd.

“Sightseek was the 3-5 favorite that day,” Amerman said. “Well, she finished fourth and was off the board and I put money across the board on Adoration and as a result, she paid $83 to win, $36 to place, and $25 to show; so when I went up to the cashier's' booth, the lady just kept throwing money at me. I didn't have to go to the ATM for many many months.”

It was also a lucrative moment for Dean Reeves when he won the Breeders Cup Classic with Mucho Macho Man in 2013. When shown the race again at the conference, Reeves felt the rush of emotions swelling back.

“I'm nervous now just watching that again,” Reeves said. “I felt like I was in an out of body experience watching that last 100 yards.”

Reeves had some key advice for new owners about their relationship with their trainers, joking that Kathy Ritvo, Mucho Macho Man's trainer, has become like a second wife.

“I talk to Kathy everyday, which is kind of strange,” Reeves admitted. “I love this business so much that I am overly possessed by it. We have a wonderful relationship and I think that is critical to have that open communication with your trainer.”

Attention then shifted to owner, panelist Ken Kinakin who reflected on winning the Breeders' Cup Sprint in 2009 with Dancing in Silks, in what would be one of the closest finishes in Breeders' Cup history. Kinakin, who said he paid $25,000 Canadian money for Dancing in Silks, encouraged owners who have smaller budgets.

“I had no budget, but I was blessed to be at the Breeders' Cup,” Kinakin said. “It doesn't matter what you pay for the horse, because the horse doesn't know how much you pay for him.”

Added Kinakin about the benefits to being a horse owner, “It gives you a pass to see what the public doesn't see; how much hard work everyone on the backside goes through to get these horses to the winners' circle.”

As the owner panel wrapped up, OwnerView presented its 2016 New Owner of the Year Award to LNJ Foxwoods Nanci and Larry Roth.

“I want to thank OwnerView for the award, it's very humbling,” Nanci Roth said. “It's really funny to be sitting next to Barbara [Banke]. In 2012, I came to my parents, wanting to start a small broodmare operation because I fell in love with Rachel Alexandra. It's come full circle for me.”

The Thoroughbred Conference continued with a fun hour with an all Hall-of-Fame panel of jockeys moderated by Richard Migliore. Panelists were Laffit Pincay Jr., Gary Stevens, Chris McCarron, and Mike Smith.

The audience was thoroughly entertained by the plethora of stories and quips the jockeys produced.  The Hall of Famers shared their common love for horse racing, likening the relationship between jockey, trainer and owner to the relationship of an NFL player, coach and general manager, respectively. They also shared anecdotes about how, at first, they all wanted to be athletes in other sports. Mike Smith, for example, said he originally wanted to be a football linebacker. He talked about playing on a youth football team in his native New Mexico.

“I remember it was third down and short, and the running back ran up the middle, running right at me,” Smith said. “I hit him pretty hard, but he just kept running, and was celebrating in the endzone. That was when I knew I had to find a new trade,” Smith said to the audience's amusement.

After lunch at Santa Anita's Turf Terrace, the conference resumed with a star-studded all-trainer panel consisting of Art Sherman, Eoin Harty, Phil D'Amato, and Hall-of-Famers Jerry Hollendorfer and Richard Mandella, who gave their insight on the owner-trainer relationship.

“Each horse is different and so is each owner,” Hollendorfer said. “Once you find out how to communicate with them, it makes things a lot easier.”

Added Hollendorfer, “I really find it an advantage to deal with a lot of different kinds of people, because I think you can learn something from everybody; a lot of the times, [my] owners are successful in other industries, and I can learn something from them.”

The panel also gave their advice to prospective Thoroughbred owners.

“Set a budget and be realistic about your expectations,” Harty said. “Then you can't get hurt too badly.”

Perhaps the best lines of the day came from Mandella.

“I've made millionaires out of my owners,” he said. “But some of them were billionaires before I knew them.”

On finding the right trainer for an owner, offered Mandella, “It's important to consider the relationship and get to know a couple of different trainers, come out to the morning and see how they run their business, give a couple of horses to different trainers, because it's a partnership, after all.

Mandella continued, “Pick someone you're comfortable with. And don't be afraid to give a trainer with a smaller stable a chance.”

When asked about what they would be doing if they weren't training, Mandella again had the quick answer.

“That's an easy one–I'd be an actor. I've been acting like a trainer for 42 years,” Mandella exclaimed to the audience's thunderous laughter.

To cap off an action packed day, OwnerView treated its guests with a special panel entitled “Racehorses in Hollywood” emceed by television journalist Nick Clooney, brother to singer Rosemary Clooney and father of actor George Clooney.

Clips from movies “Secretariat,” “Seabiscuit” and “Dreamer” were shown while Clooney interviewed special guests Laura Hillenbrand, author of the best-selling book “Seabiscuit: An American Legend” and Kate Chenery Tweedy, who came to the conference filling in for her mother, Penny Chenery, celebrated owner of Secretariat, who has taken ill. Hillenbrand talked about the authenticity of the movie version of her book while Tweedy talked about the excitement of being part of the filmmaking process in “Secretariat.”

Day 3 of the OwnerView conference begins at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Santa Anita's FrontRunner restaurant.