WINNING OWNERS NA ISSUE 32_Jerkins feature.qxd 18/04/2014 00:03 Page 1
RACING
WINNING OWNERS Profiles on Grade 1-winning owners between January and March, 2014
North American Trainer’s special feature on our top Grade 1 winners for the past quarter. Visit trainermagazine.com/winners to view the profiles of all Grade 1-winning owners from April 2013 through March 2014. WORDS: BILL HELLER PHOTOS: HORSEPHOTOS.COM
FASHION PLATE
Won the Las Virgenes at Santa Anita, February 1st, 2014 Owned by Arnold Zetcher and Michael Tabor Trained by Simon Callaghan Sire Old Fashioned Dam Miss Puzzle by Citidancer
ARNOLD Zetcher fell in love with Thoroughbred racing at Cahokia Downs, a track operated by the East St. Louis Jockey Club near Alorton, St. Clair County, Illinois, not far from Zetcher’s native St. Louis, where he attended Washington University. Seeing Buckpasser and Secretariat race at Arlington Park in Chicago fanned his passion for racing. He held on to a winning ticket on Secretariat as a souvenir, and, in an interview in Thoroughbred Times, said that racing made him a “better person.” Then he tried making racing better, serving as chairman of Thoroughbred Owners of California. Now 73, Zetcher worked with Federated Department Stores in Cincinnati, Bonwit Teller in New York City, Kohl’s Food Stores in Illinois and Wisconsin, and the John Breuner Company in San Francisco before becoming chairman, president, and CEO of Talbots, an international clothing manufacturer and retailer of upscale professional women’s wear headquartered in Hingham, Massachusetts. He was named one of the top 25 managers of the year in 2000 by Business Week, and, two years later, was awarded the National Retail Federation’s Gold
Medal, the industry’s highest honor. He has also served as the chairman of the National Retail Federation Foundation, which is involved in education projects in retail sales. He retired from Talbots in March, 2008. Zetcher became a Thoroughbred owner in 2000, with Hall of Famer Ron McAnally as his trainer. Zetcher’s first graded stakes winner was Fairy Ransom, who captured the 2003 Grade 2 Del Mar Derby. House of Fortune won a pair of Grade 2 stakes – the Fantasy and Hollywood Oaks – the following year. In 2008, Zetcher switched to another Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert, and saw continued success. Zetcher’s Gabby’s Golden Gal won the Acorn Stakes-G1 and Richard’s Kid the Grade 1 Pacific Classic in 2009, and in 2010, his EZ’s Gentleman won the Triple Bend Handicap-G1 and El Brujo the Pat O’Brien Stakes-G1. Another big year was 2011, with Midnight Interlude winning the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby and Liaison the CashCall Futurity-G1. John Shirreffs trained the owner’s Zardana, a Grade 2 winner in North America, to defeat reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra in 2010.
racing. “It’s more of a tribute to my grandfather and father,” Seth Hancock, the 64-year-old owner, partner and manager of Claiborne, said at the time. “My grandfather (Arthur B. Hancock) started all this over here in Kentucky, and my dad (Arthur B. “Bull”
Hancock Jr.) built it up into what it was, and I’m just trying to keep it going.” Hancock, who graduated from the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture in 1971, and his sister Dell have done more than keep it going. They have continued a standard of excellence at the historic farm whose most recent stars include 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Blame, who began his stallion career at Claiborne in 2011; 2012 graded stakes winners Cease and Rumor; and 2013 triple graded stakes winner Departing. All three were campaigned in partnership with Adele Dilschneider. Many of the sport’s greatest champions preceded them, none more accomplished than Triple Crown champion and two-time Horse of the Year Secretariat, whom Seth Hancock syndicated for a then-record $6 million in
LEA Won the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park, February 9th, 2014 Owned by Claiborne Farm and Adele B Dilschneider Trained by Bill Mott Sire First Samurai Dam Greenery by Galileo
IT’S HARD to believe there could be a more iconic farm than Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, which celebrated its 100th year of operation in 2011 and was honored that year with an Eclipse Award of Merit for outstanding achievement in Thoroughbred
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