Don Valpredo. a longtime breeder and owner based in California, passed away Oct. 31 while on vacation overseas. He was 85.
At one time or another, Valpredo was on the board of virtually every horse racing and breeding organization in California. From Bakersfield, California, he served as the chairman of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association from 2014 to 2016 and served three consecutive one-year terms from 1986 to 1988 and remained on the board of that organization at the time of his passing.
Valpredo was inducted into the California Thoroughbred Hall of Fame. He was also among a group of fellow owners and breeders that created California Cup Day at Santa Anita. In his honor, the California Cup Sprint was renamed the Don Valpredo California Cup Sprint.
In 2014 he was tapped again to help run the CTBA and served another term. as that group's president
He also served as the commissioner of the California Horse Racing Board and had stints as a member of the Breeders' Cup board, and with the boards of the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the Jockey Club. He was inducted into the CTBA Hall of Fame in 2017
With his friend and business partner John Harris, he co-bred California Horse of the Year and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint runner up Soviet Problem. In 2019, he was inducted into the Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame for helping build the sport in California for over forty years.
In his obituary posted on the website of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, it was noted that, “while he will forever be the patriarch of many agricultural enterprises, which along with his proud and steadfast service, comprise much of his legacy, thoroughbred horses were Valpredo's true passion. Perhaps because they most closely resemble his untamable spirit, interminable grit and resolve, and/or perhaps as Valpredo once put it, simply because, “the first horse that I bred and raced so many years ago won her first race” … and away he went, always putting more into the Thoroughbred world than he took out.”
“I absolutely love the training industry and the breeding industry here,” Valpredo told the TDN in January. “In fact, I'm sitting here today with the Stallion Register on my lap, trying to find the right mix for my broodmares.”
He was also a veteran of the agricultural industry. He was the president of Ridge Ginning Co. and founding Partner of Kern Ridge Growers, Val-Mar Farms and related entities. He also served on the Western Growers Board of Directors from 2003-2014 and was a WG member since 1989. His company Country Sweet Produce specialized in sweet potatoes.
Valpredo is survived by his wife Sally; three children: Michael Valpredo, Natalia Fritz and Alexis Mosely and their spouses; and seven grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the Valpredo family is asking for donations to the National Future Farmers of America Foundation's Leadership Fund.
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