NorCal Sale Preview

SIRE POWER HIGHLIGHTS YEARLING CATALOG

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE AT THE NORCAL SALE

Young stallions with their frst crops join their older, established counterparts in the catalog for the 2020 California Toroughbred Breeders Association Northern California yearling and horses of racing age sale. Te variety will give buyers many opportunities to purchase exciting racing prospects.

Te sale will be held Tuesday, Aug. 11, beginning at noon. It will be conducted in the Amador Pavilion at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.

John Harris’ Harris Farms topped the 2019 edition of the sale with a $45,000 California-bred son of Mr. Big. Harris is bringing the only ofspring by that sire to this year’s sale, cataloging hip #121, a Cal-bred flly out of the War Chant mare Tis Means War. Te mare is a half sister to $440,611-earner and multiple stakes winner Lynne’s Legacy.

Te Harris consignment also includes a Cal-bred half brother to 2019 King Glorious Stakes winner Club Aspen, who has placed in two stakes thus far this year. Te sale colt, hip #12, is by Tamarando, whose frst foals are 2-yearolds this season, out of the stakes-winning Talkin Man mare Aspen Gal.

Five in the catalog are by hot California sire Smiling Tiger, who stands at Harris, and four are in the Harris consignment. Te ffth, hip #48, is a Calbred flly out of the Friends Lake mare Hong Kong Lake consigned by Graeme and Lu Tomas’ Willow Tree Farm Inc. Te mare is a half sister to champion and $2,323,040-earner Summer Bird.

Tamarando is one of many young sires with offerings at CTBA’s Northern California sale

BENOIT PHOTO ©

Harris also has two by Clubhouse Ride, a successful California sire who stands at Legacy Ranch, including hip #71, a colt out of the stakes-placed

Desert Code mare Moving Desert. Stallions in the Willow Tree group include Acclamation, Boisterous, Misremembered, Race Day, Shanghai Kid, and Stay Tirsty.

Danzing Candy’s frst foals are yearlings of 2020, and two from that crop are in the Northern California catalog. Tom Bachman’s Fairview will ofer hip #67, a Cal-bred out of the Gulch mare Mary Coughlan, also the dam of multiple stakes winner Outside Nashville and stakes-placed Bluegrass Derby.

Sue Greene’s Woodbridge as agent has consigned the other Danzing Candy, hip #106. Te Cal-bred colt is out of the unraced Point Given mare Siena’sgotapoint, a half sister to Cal-bred champion stakes winner Leave Me Alone and to stakes winner Stoney. Woodbridge also has yearlings by Boat Trip, Field Commission, Northern Causeway, and Southern Image.

Fairview has a Cal-bred daughter of two-time Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1)

Stay Thirsty’s yearlings are from his frst Cal-bred crop

COURTESY OF LOVACRES RANCH/ASUNCION PINEYRUA PHOTO

Champ Pegasus has some prime lots from Barton Thoroughbreds

COURTESY OF DICK BARTON

winner Goldencents. Te flly, hip #96, is out of the stakes-win

ning Is It True mare Ring True.

Terry Lovingier’s Lovacres Ranch is bringing a large consignment to the sale. Te group includes yearlings by Stay Tirsty and Shaman Ghost. Stay Tirsty stands at Lovacres Ranch, and the stallion’s frst Cal-bred foals are yearlings. Lovacres’ Stay Tirsty oferings include hip #107, a Cal-bred son of the stakes-placed El Prado mare Sobresaliente. Te mare has also produced stakes winner Cabana.

Shaman Ghost’s frst foals are yearlings of 2020, and the two from that crop in the catalog both come from the Lovacres consignment. Hip #49 is a Cal-bred colt out of the stakes-placed Monarchos mare I Ain’t Gonna Lie, and hip #77 is a Cal-bred flly out of the Songandaprayer mare No Tunes, a half sister to Japanese stakes winner Dream Kirari.

Other stallions represented in the Lovacres consignment are Awesome Gambler, Govenor Charlie, Grace Upon Grace, Speightster, and Time to Get Even.

Barton Toroughbreds is also bringing a large consignment, with yearlings by Bal a Bali, Cat Burglar, Champ Pegasus, Dads Caps, and Misremembered.

Two of the Misremembered fllies are out of stakes winners. Hip #21 is a Cal-bred daughter of the Crowd Pleaser mare Cagey Girl, an earner of $304,496. Hip #29 is a Cal-bred daughter of the Charismatic mare Crozet, an earner of $113,175.

Hip #44 from the Barton group is a son of Dads Caps out of the stakes-winning Hansel mare Hanselina. Te Cal-bred colt is a half brother to stakes-placed Overtime Victory.

Shane Easterbrook’s Easterbrook Livestock Management consignment also has a yearling by Dads Caps. Te Cal-bred flly, hip #64, is out of the Artax mare Ma Ka Bet and is a half sister to stakes winner My Friend Emma.

Easterbrook is ofering the only two yearlings by Stanford in the sale. Both Cal-bred fllies, hip #55 is out of the grade 2 stakes-placed Good Journey mare Kathleen Rose and hip #79 is out of the Unbridled’s Song mare Open Mic, the dam of stakesplaced No Cover Charge.

Easterbrook also has yearlings by Don’tsellmeshort and

Run It.

Linda Madsen’s Milky Way

Farm has a large consignment,

Smiling Tiger has dealt a hot hand of runners in 2020

COURTESY OF RON MESAROS/ PREMIER EQUINE CENTER with yearlings by stallions that stand at the farm as well as a Calbred daughter of Fed Biz. Named Fed Secretary and consigned as hip #11, the flly is out of the winning A. P. Indy mare A P’s Regal Ransom. Other sires included in the Milky Way consignment are Box Score, Circumference, Smart Bid, and Winning Cause.

Dar Hanson’s Hanson’s River Ranch has the only yearling by top

California sire Grazen in the catalog. Hip #117 is a son of the unraced Tizdejavu mare Sunshine Woman. Hanson’s River Ranch also has youngsters by Accla

mation and Vronsky.

Dr. Tori Polzin’s Stony Creek Farm ofers the only Surf Cat

in the catalog. Te flly, hip #116, is out of the stakes-placed All Tee Power mare Summer Lite. Stony Creek also has a daughter of Coil and a son of Cyclotron.

Rancho de Los Aviadores has two colts by Vronsky and another by Boat Trip. Te sires in the Ransom Ranch Equine group are Black Seventeen, James Street, and Ultimate Eagle.

River Bend Farm has colts by Clubhouse Ride and Ministers Wild Cat. Sierra Sunset Ranch has a colt by Idiot Proof and two colts and a flly by Sierra Sunset.

Cal-bred Best Pal defeats his elders in the inaugural running of the Pacifc Classic Stakes at Del Mar

Best Pal’s Legacy, Thirty Years Later

ANNE M. ENBERHARDT PHOTOS

THE GOLDEN STATE’S GOLDEN BOY

BY EMILY SHIELDS

By the time he retired, California-bred titan Best Pal had won 18 times and earned $5,668,245. His brilliance on a national level was reminiscent of a Swaps or a Snow Chief, and paved the way for the likes of Tiznow and California Chrome.

But before he ever debuted as a juvenile 30 years ago, Best Pal was nothing more than a bad-tempered colt with suspect breeding. He was a nearly unmarked bay save for a few white hairs, and gave no indication he would go on to be one of the sport’s brightest starts.

Best Pal was born Feb. 12, 1988, a son of Habitony. An Irish-bred multiple graded stakes winner of such races as the Santa Anita Derby (G1), Habitony was standing at John and Betty Mabee’s Golden Eagle Farm in Ramona. Although he would go on to also sire crack sprinter Richter Scale, at stud Habitony had a record that was far from impressive to that point. He entered stud in Pennsylvania before being sent to Japan in 1980. He started standing at Golden Eagle in 1984.

Te Mabees were trying to downsize their operation when they brought on manager Gayle Van Leer. She recalls that “Mr. Mabee said to me, ‘Tere are a bunch of horses out there that don’t look like they

can run. We need to clean house. Make it happen.’

“Te whole crop of Habitonys were completely suspect,” Van Leer said. “Nothing had happened for him so far. It was my job to move the horses through the farm.”

Van Leer set to work bringing horses in to train, sending them to the track to run, and eventually be claimed away. Best Pal was a weanling when she frst arrived and didn’t look special.

“He was a plain brown horse,” Van Leer said. “We never expected him to turn out to be what he turned out to be.”

Best Pal’s dam side ofered little hope. His dam, the King Pellinore mare Ubetshedid, started only once and failed to win, and she had produced only one winner from three foals.

And then there was also Best Pal’s temperament.

“Tat line was tough to handle,” Van Leer said. “When we were breaking them as 2-year-olds, we basically gelded every single one of them. Tat was always a great quote from Mr. Mabee, saying that I was the one who made the decision to geld Best Pal. But he never said we gelded every single one of them!”

Best Pal graduated to the racetrack, with John Mabee selecting trainer Ian Jory to take the reins.

“Mr. Mabee was always good about helping the young up-and-coming trainers, which is how Ian ended up with the horse,” Van Leer said. “We tagged Best Pal as a horse that would get to the races early and be one of those 2-year-olds that got the ball rolling for the year while the fancier bred ones were coming along. He had shown ability, but he was by Habitony.”

Tat’s why Best Pal’s maiden win frst out at Hollywood Park in 1990 came as something of a shock.

“From there, your choice is to run in a stakes race,” said Van Leer. “So we just kept throwing him into the next stakes and the next stakes, fguring the bubble would burst. It never did.”

Best Pal fnished second in the Ladbroke Futurity at Golden Gate Fields June 23 behind Broadways Top Gun, trained by fedgling Toroughbred trainer Bob Baffert. Te Habitony gelding then shipped down to Del Mar for the summer.

“I had heard about him through the grapevine because he was owned by Mr. Mabee,” recalled Dan Smith, Del Mar’s media coordinator. Mabee was Del Mar’s chairman of the board at the time. “I’d heard he was a runner.”

In the $50,000 I’m Smokin Stakes, Best Pal was sent of as a strong favorite under jockey Patrick Valenzuela and blitzed the feld, winning by seven lengths. Te horse who ran second, Just as Swift, had just won the Alameda Futurity 21 days before.

“When I saw him coming down the stretch, I knew this horse was indeed a runner,” Smith said. “It was one of those things you experience when you realize a horse is for real. He ran with so much determination, and he had a great stride. His pedigree was pretty ordinary, but he was obviously a superior animal. You could tell he was going to be a horse to reckon with.”

Best Pal was back in the gate 26 days later for the $75,000 Balboa Stakes (G3). Favoritism went to the precocious D. Wayne Lukas trainee Iroquois Park, a $235,000 purchase by Chief’s Crown. Tat gray colt was coming of a win in Del Mar’s De Anza Stakes and had also broken his maiden in good fashion. Best Pal outran him and fve others, scoring by two lengths.

“He was obviously a very nice prospect, and Patrick Valenzuela ft him like a glove,” Smith said. “Patrick had all the confdence in the world in him.”

Best Pal was coupled with the Mabees’ maiden-breaking Secretariat son Magnifcent Red for the 43 rd running of the $200,000 Del Mar Futurity (G2) over a mile. He settled in second behind the speed of the race, Formal Diner, before pouncing and powering home 3 1 ⁄2 lengths clear. With the win, Best Pal frmly stamped himself as the best juvenile in the country.

He was also one of the toughest.

“He could be very mean,” Van Leer said. “He never would have made it as a colt. Te grooms all had to learn how to

As a measure of his talent, 46 of Best Pal’s 47 career starts were in stakes races

get along with him over time. But the best thing about him is that he would do anything for a carrot. He was a carrot-eating machine.”

Van Leer remembered several moments when she needed to keep passing carrots to Best Pal while working with him and even just putting his halter on. She attributed his nature to his intelligence.

“I’ve been around a lot of horses, and he still to this day is one of the smartest horses I’ve ever seen,” she said. “I would swear he was human. You just had to learn to deal with that intelligence, and then he would give you everything you wanted.”

Best Pal went on to win the Norfolk Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita en route to the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) at Belmont Park. He fnished sixth behind Fly So Free, who had previously won the

Shown winning the 1993 Cal Cup Classic, Best Pal earned eight Cal-bred championships, three of them as Horse of the Year

SHIGEKI KIKKAWA/BLOODHORSE LIBRARY

Champagne Stakes (G1) over the Belmont surface. While Fly So Free fnished the year with two grade 1 wins and no other stakes victories, Best Pal added the Hollywood Futurity (G1) and fnished his season with fve stakes wins, two of them grade 1s. He still lost the Eclipse Award for champion 2-year-old male to Fly So Free.

California voters were more forgiving of his Breeders’ Cup blip. Best Pal was named the Golden State’s champion 2-year-old male and Horse of the Year, defeating such top runners as Brown Bess, Sensational Star, and Flying Continental for the latter honor. He would go on to be named California-bred Horse of the Year in 1991 and 1992 as well, with eight total California championships before retirement.

Despite his prowess as a juvenile and his eventual success as an older horse, Best Pal lost his frst fve races as a sophomore. He fnished second in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) before running second, beaten 1 3 ⁄4 lengths, in the 1991 Kentucky Derby (G1) under Gary Stevens. After running ffth in the Preakness Stakes (G1), Best Pal was odds on to win the Silver Screen Handicap (G3) at Hollywood Park but was still outfnished by a neck.

Frustrated, the Mabees transferred Best Pal to trainer Gary Jones, who immediately turned him around to win the $205,000 Swaps Stakes (G2).

As Del Mar’s chairman of the board, John Mabee created a brand new 1 1 ⁄4-mile race for older horses in the summer at Del Mar, a signature event that would draw top runners from around the country. Te inaugural Pacifc Classic could not go ahead without a Mabee runner, and Best Pal ft the bill. Just a sophomore, Best Pal outran 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled and grade 1 winner Farma Way and future

(Best Pal) was a biggerthan-life horse. He checked all the boxes that make a successful racehorse. He had the structural ability to create those strides and the heart to run down any horse in front of him.”

— Gayle Van Leer

grade 1 winner Itsallgreektome to win by a length over Twilight Agenda.

For the fans, it was a thrill.

“He was a draw,” Smith said of the popular gelding. “He had his following for sure. Tey all turned out to see Best Pal run.”

Best Pal ran in Del Mar’s big race twice more, fnishing third in 1993 and second in 1994. Trained from mid-1994 to the end of his career by Richard Mandella, Best Pal continued his career with 10 more stakes wins, including the 1992 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) and 1993 Hollywood Gold Cup (G1). He was also a major player in the early days of the California Cup and won the Wells Fargo Bank California Cup Classic Handicap in 1993 by 3 1 ⁄2 lengths with Corey Black in the saddle.

“It’s real special to have a horse like this win the Cal Cup,” said John Mabee after the Cal Cup Classic. “It’s super to have a horse of this kind. It’s once in a lifetime you get one of them.”

Best Pal was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2010.

As a gelding with options for a second career, he was retrained into a pony and worked with the young horses at Golden Eagle. For three years Best Pal led the post parade for the Pacifc Classic, coming alive when he returned to Del Mar.

“He was absolutely happy at the track,” Van Leer said. “I do think he was exceptionally good at Del Mar. It was pretty clear that was his happy place.”

“He was fun to watch,” Smith said. “He always gave you his best efort and never phoned it in. I admired that.”

Best Pal died of a heart attack in November 1998, with both his sire Habitony (who died in 2001) and dam Ubetshedid (2003) outliving him. Part of Best Pal’s enduring legacy is that the Balboa Stakes, which he so brilliantly won 30 years ago, was renamed in his honor. It has since been won by horses such as Preakness Stakes winner Lookin At Lucky and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Kentucky Derby hero Nyquist.

“He was a bigger-than-life horse,” said Van Leer, who has for many years been a successful bloodstock agent. “He checked all the boxes that make a successful racehorse. He had the structural ability to create those strides and the heart to run down any horse in front of him.

“Trough the whole thing, he was still a plain brown horse that wasn’t going to catch your eye, and you would never say he had a magnifcent stride or anything. But as someone who buys horses for a living, I found that Best Pal combined all the angles and structures that you look for with an incredible will to win. He had all the ingredients together.”