F E A T U R E
CTBA Member Profile
Mike Pegram: A California Success Story
by EMILY SHIELDS car dealer Hal Earnhardt introduced Pegram to trainer Bob Baffert. Earnhardt’s future success with the silver-haired horseman would include a victory by Cal-bred Indian Charlie in the 1998 Santa Anita Derby (grade I). When Pegram met Baffert, both a friendship and a business partnership were born that included Pegram’s first Quarter Horse purchase With Pegram’s urging, Baffert made the switch from Quarter Horses to Thoroughbreds. He saddled Broadway’s Top Gun, owned in partnership by Pegram and Bob Roth, to defeat future Hall of Famer and Cal-bred superstar Best Pal in the Ladbroke Futurity. Pegram and Roth used those earnings to purchase a Cal-bred son of Flying Paster out of the 1990 Barretts May Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training for $80,000. The lanky gray was named Letthebighossroll. “We had high hopes for him early,” Pegram said of Letthebighossroll. “He was a true fighter, running until he was nine, and he was my first really good horse.” Letthebighossroll banked $1,014,377 while winning 18 of 60 starts, including 10 stakes races. After rocketing
©Jim McCue photos
Businessman and racehorse owner Mike Pegram is renowned for his success in the Triple Crown and at the Breeders’ Cup. In the past 12 years, he has campaigned such stars as Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Real Quiet and two-time Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Midnight Lute, as well as Dubai World Cup winner Captain Steve, Hall of Fame inductee Silverbulletday and recent Preakness Stakes hero Lookin At Lucky. But before he was making national headlines, Pegram was racking up stakes wins with California-breds, the bread-and-butter of his successful Southern California racing operation. Pegram was born on Feb. 16, 1952, in Fort Knox, Kentucky, but grew up in Princeton, Indiana. His first forays to the racetrack were at nearby Ellis Park in the Bluegrass State. It is remarkable to think that the quaint Kentucky track would be the springboard for Pegram’s future exploits! Pegram owned his first Thoroughbreds with his father, Jim, who also helped him start up his first McDonalds franchises in Seattle, Washington. In 1985, the Arizona-based
Lookin At Lucky—$1 Million Preakness Stakes (Grade I)—May 15, 2010
28 CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED • JULY 2010
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