Lovacres Ranch A Farm With an “Altitude”
Lovacres Ranch is into only its eighth year of operation at its current Warner Springs location, and it is still expanding. Put into service late in the summer of 2007, the 520-acre layout includes the old Folgner Ranch and remains a work in progress. “The sixfurlong training track is in full use, full time,” said owner Terry Lovingier. “We grow our own alfalfa and have large pastures.” Lovingier is enchanted by the beauty of the setting. “I don’t like to brag,” he said, “but I think this is one of the prettier farms in California. We have all new fencing and the lay of the land is beautiful, set in rolling hills and full of beautiful old oak trees. We’re at 3,500 feet elevation and the horses love it. I’ve never seen happier horses. And training at an altitude is good for them, too.” Lovacres is a full-service facility, offering breeding, foaling, boarding, breaking, training and sales preparation, and will stand seven stallions for the 2015 breeding season. Awesome Gambler, who is the only son of Coronado’s Quest standing in California, was the state’s leading freshman sire of 2011. Among his earners of more than $2 million is the 2011 California Champion Two Year Old Female, Willa B Awesome. She won the grade 1, $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks, the grade 3, $100,000 Santa Ysabel Stakes, and the $288,000 Melair Stakes. Awesome Gambler has also sired stakes-placed winners River Kiss, Awesome Annie and Awe’ Some Kitten. “His best year will be next year after we got his crosses down,” Lovingier said. Bushwacker, by Outflanker out of the two-time winner Musical Score, retired to Lovacres in 2010. The 2007 Vernon O. Underwood Stakes (grade 3) winner earned $285,840. Owned by William L. Currin in partnership with Alvin Eisman, Bushwacker has 30% starters from foals and has had 13 winners to date. His average earnings per starter is more than $15,000. Empire Way stood his first season at stud in 2013. 38
CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED
❙ October 2014 ❙ www.ctba.com
The son of Belmont Stakes (grade 1) hero Empire Maker is out of the graded stakes winning A.P. Indy mare Delta Princess, making him a half-brother to two-time Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic and threetime Eclipse Award winner Royal Delta, as well as grade 2 winner Crown Queen. Stakes-placed Empire Way will see his first runners on the track in 2016. Grace Upon Grace is a winning stakes-placed son of Rio Verde and a half-brother to four other winners, including stakes winners Rgirldoesn’tbluff, Chasing the Prize and Greeting Card. He won on both grass and synthetic surfaces. Grace Upon Grace’s first foals are juveniles of 2014. Swiss Yodeler, who is regularly one of California’s leading sires, moved to Lovacres for the 2013 season. He is the sire of 77 stakes horses with average earnings per starter over $46,000. Swiss Yodeler’s best runner to date has been $1,997,990 earner Thor’s Echo, the Eclipse Champion Sprinter who counted the grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint amongst his victories. Swiss Yodeler is a leading sire of two-year-olds, with average annual juvenile earnings over $570,000. Time to Get Even, a grade-3 winner of $150,084 by Stephen Got Even, has first-crop sophomores in 2014. He has had 12 winners from 21 starters to date, and has already sired stakes winner Time for a Memory, as well as multiple stakes placed Time for Angie. Twice the Appeal is new to Lovacres for 2015. The grade 3 Sunland Derby winner finished tenth in the 2011 Kentucky Derby en route to earning $476,060. He is a son of standout sire Successful Appeal. The Lovacres operation usually develops between 50 and 100 foals each year. Top juvenile filly My Fiona, recent winner of the $100,500 California Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Stakes, is a homebred from the Lovingier program.