John Harris

After a flurry of activity this past week which appeared to breathe life into the idea of Pleasanton racetrack remaining open for training and stabling, potentially even for a race-meet this summer, the facility looks set to end its current tenure as a state licensed auxiliary training and stabling center midnight Tuesday. "Please be aware that as of March 25 at midnight, Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton will no longer be an approved auxiliary training facility of Santa Anita Park. The agreement between the Southern Stabling and Vanning Committee (TOC...

The Alameda County Agricultural Fair Association voted Tuesday evening to pursue a race meet this summer, according to several sources. This is in contrast to a January vote by the California Association of Racing Fairs (CARF) to not apply for race dates in 2025. Tuesday's closed session vote launches a flurry of key details and obligations to be nailed down before a race-meet can go ahead at the track, all within a relatively short amount of time. This includes a response to the facility's long-standing regulatory wastewater and stormwater discharge...

Politicians and key industry figures are pushing for Pleasanton racetrack to extend stabling and training at the facility beyond the current March 25 deadline and to potentially hold a race-meet there this summer, a vote on which could be held during Alameda County Agricultural Fair Association board meeting Tuesday. While in some quarters, hopes are high that a vote will go ahead and the extension granted, such an effort is far from a slam dunk. Alameda County Fairgrounds management argues that any extension would be made difficult because of long-standing...

Don Valpredo. a longtime breeder and owner based in California, passed away Oct. 31 while on vacation overseas. He was 85. At one time or another, Valpredo was on the board of virtually every horse racing and breeding organization in California. From Bakersfield, California, he served as the chairman of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association from 2014 to 2016 and served three consecutive one-year terms from 1986 to 1988 and remained on the board of that organization at the time of his passing. Valpredo was inducted into the California Thoroughbred...

Grade I winner Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) has been relocated to California and joined the roster at Harris Farms for the 2025 breeding season, a release announced Monday afternoon. A winner at the highest level on turf and dirt, and only the third American 3-year-old in history to accomplish the feat by winning the GI Travers and GI Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes, he has two crops of racing age with 65% starters, 26% winners, and one stakes winner, El Catolico in Puerto Rico as of Oct. 21. He also...

A MGISW and sire standing at Harris Farms in Coalinga, California, Smiling Tiger (Hold That Tiger--Shandra Smiles, by Cahill Road) was euthanized Aug. 1 after succumbing to a condition which affects coordination called ataxia, according to reports from several horse racing media outlets on Friday. The 17-year-old was responsible for nine crops, which amounted to 561 foals and currently 199 winners. Accounting for a champion (Ace Korea), a graded winner (Spiced Perfection) and a dozen black-type winners, Smiling Tiger currently has 74 juveniles to his credit. He stood at the...

Six new members were elected to the Board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California the organization announced Monday. Owner and trainer Mark Glatt, owner/breeder Ty Green, owner/trainer Ryan Hanson, owner/breeder John Harris, current finance committee member Stephanie Hronis and 2021's California Trainer of the Year Andy Mathis will begin their respective terms July 1, 2024. They will join current members Nick Alexander, Gary Barber, Joe Ciaglia, Tim Cohen, Matthew Dohman, Gary Fenton, Bob Liewald, Terry Lovingier and Samantha Siegel for the 2024-2025 year.

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...

Thoroughbred owner and breeder John C. Harris will be honored at a charity fundraising dinner hosted by the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation. The event will take place Thursday, August 17, 2023, at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, located just a few miles east of Del Mar Racetrack. "We're delighted to honor John, not only for the accomplishments of his Harris Farms Horse Division, one of the country's leading racing stables and utmost influential owner/breeder operations, for which he has been inducted into the California...

This Sunday marks a year to the day Battle of Midway (Smart Strike) suffered catastrophic injuries during a morning workout at Santa Anita, unleashing a tempest of opprobrium the likes of which the industry has never before faced in terms of intensity and sustained impact. Of course, Battle of Midway's fatal injury wasn't alone the catalyst--the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Breeders' Cup winner was one of three fatalities at the track within two days. His death was also the 18th to mar the facility since racing had resumed towards the end of...