Well-Received Owner Conference Concludes

A panel comprising turf writers and journalists entertained audience members in attendance for the conclusion of OwnerView's fourth annual Thoroughbred Owners' Conference Wednesday. The conference capped off a three-day stand at the Del Mar Hilton with some of the best media professionals in the business talking about all the colorful owners they've encountered throughout the years covering Thoroughbred horse racing.

NBC's Randy Moss began the discussion, which had conference attendees leaning in with interest, relaying his experience meeting Jack Klugman of “The Odd Couple” fame at the 1980 Kentucky Derby. Klugman owned a horse named Jaklin Klugman, eventual third place finisher behind Genuine Risk that year in the Derby.

“He was a horse-playing degenerate himself,” Moss said to the laughter of the crowd. “Getting to know him and hanging out with him all week long was quite an experience.”

The Blood Horse's Lenny Shulman said one of the most interesting owners he has ever met was Harry J. Aleo, who owned champion sprinter Lost in the Fog. A World War II Veteran, Aleo “finally had his horse of a lifetime,” recalled Shulman, who also remembered Aleo as being “crustier than toast.”

“If I sold the horse, than I wouldn't have the horse any more,” Shulman said Aleo would say gruffly when asked if he would ever sell Lost in the Fog.

That “crusty, old horse owner” was someone Shulman said he wouldn't have necessarily associated with unless he would've been involved in horse racing. Also among the most colorful owners and wackiest stories Shulman ever covered was Adam Lazarus, a racing fan who sold copy machines for a living. Lazarus would visit Calder Race Course so desperately seeking to get in on the ownership side of things, Shulman recalls, that Lazarus put leaflets on the windshield of people's cars wanting investors to get involved in a partnership with him. Soon, from putting a leaflet on a car, Lazarus went on to co-own 2011 Eclipse-winning Champion Female Sprinter Musical Romance, purchasing her for $22,000. Musical Romance would go on to make almost $1.7 million on the track.

“The passion of this one guy who desperately wanted to get people in the horse business, got a Breeders' Cup winner out of it,” Shulman said.

Added Shulman, “The sport is so diverse and opens you up to people so unlike yourself.”

Broadcaster Caton Bredar, also a panelist, concurred with that sentiment.

“That's kind of what makes it fun, and that's what we in the media love, the diversity of ownership–people that are so enamoured by the horse,” said Bredar, who relayed her experience meeting the couple who owned Breeders' Cup Classic winner Skip Away, trained by Sonny Hine, as one of her favorite memories covering the sport.

“Carolyn Hine owned the horse; [Skip Away] never passed the sales ring because of a minor defect in confirmation,” Bredar recalled.

The Hines were not a couple who paid top dollar for things, Bredar told the crowd, and Sonny, a former FBI fingerprint specialist, spoke five different languages, though he had a “non-spy personality,” according to Bredar.

“The horse took them all over the world and they built a small fortune for themselves,” Bredar said.

Bredar also noted the amount of celebrities who are owners in the industry, recalling the first time she saw MC Hammer visiting Saratoga. Dressed in his aqua marine leather suit, it was a sight that Bredar had never seen before at the track.

“He was dressed in all his regalia and had a full entourage — the contrast between that and what we were used to seeing at Saratoga made for the best television,” Bredar said to the amusement of the crowd.

The TDN's Steve Sherack talked about his recent feature on horse owner Jeff Bloom, a former jockey, who went back to school to get his degree in finance. Bloom became a successful businessman and has two horses entered in the Breeders' Cup this weekend as an owner–Snapper Sinclair (City Zip) in Friday's GI BC Juvenile Turf and Skye Diamonds (First Dude) in Saturday's GI BC Filly and Mare Sprint.

“I was fascinated by his walk of life,” Sherack said about Bloom's role switch from jockey to owner.

Added NBC's Moss, “I think the owners don't get as much publicity as they should–they're the people who actually pay the bills, NBC would absolutely love to do more publicity on the owners.”

After the final panel of the day, conference attendees, which numbered 235 during the three days, were treated to lunch at Del Mar's IL Palio Restaurant, which overlooks the seaside oval.

Conference attendee Mike Anderson, who has been to all four of OwnerView's Thoroughbred Owner's Conference, and an owner himself for 20 years, investing a percentage of 70 racehorses throughout the country, enjoyed taking in the sights at Del Mar after the conference.

“It's a great way to meet people,” Anderson said of the OwnerView conference. “It's really important to continue your education as an owner.”

Erin Green, a Lexington native and prospective owner who attended the conference said she took copious notes during the panel discussions.

“I've got some homework to do when I get home, and collected a lot of business cards from current owners,” Green said. “I've been thinking about becoming an owner since I was eight years old, and I learned a lot at this conference about how to get started.”

For more information on OwnerView, visit ownerview.com.