Khaled: Questions about Ellsworth

[Michael]

Khaled, you are very familiar with Rex Ellsworth. I grew up watching his stable dominate American racing (I cried when Candy Spots lost the Derby to Chateaugay!). Unfortunately, his legacy was tarnished by the neglect stories of the early 70's.

I'd like to hear more of your impressions of Ellsworth's operation, and of his horsemanship. A few years back I read a 1956 interview he gave to the TB of California and was very impressed with his grasp of conformation issues, and their causal relationships to performance and injury. He claimed to have learned much of his insight on horseback while running cattle. I'm curious what you may be able to add from talking with him.

I remember visiting his Chino ranch on occasion and noticing the layout of his paddocks. Long and narrow. Was this a conscious decision on his part? I also remember thinking that *Khaled (the horse) appeared very straight in the hind leg, and very short coupled. Is this accurate? When I saw Swaps years later, he seemed much longer, and very different from his sire, but with none of the coarseness of his damsire, *Beau Pere.

What was *Nigromante like as a stallion? I once owned a daughter of his bred by Ellsworth named Monte Sue (a half sister to New Policy). She was about as ugly a mare as I've ever seen, but was a stakes producer.

Did Ellsworth subscribe to any particular breeding theories, or did he look more to conformation, or pedigree, to make his breeding decisions? And why do you think his fortunes faded so quickly after he sold Olden Times, Prove It and Candy Spots to Gainesway? Was it the Pessin deal that crippled him, or did his run of luck just come to an end?

Any thoughts you may offer will be appreciated. For what it's worth, I have always considered Rex Ellsworth the most accomplished breeder in California history--exceeding L. B. Mayer, John Mabee, and perhaps even Mr. Haggin. Thanks.

[Lucilla]

I'm Lucilla How are you?

[Lucilla]

I'am looking for the barn number to Dave Fergusen's Ranch. I'm looking for a TB filly to raise and breed to my Arabian Stallion? I called his ranch today and spoke to his wife but I don't think that she will give him the message.
The filly doesn't have to be perfect but I will have her vet checked at UC Davis.

[Timber]

Bump for Khaled

[Khaled]

Michael, Thanks for the questions. You hit on one of my favorite subjects. I don't have time to answer your questions right now but I can answer them (and will this week). Some of the questions are simple like the paddocks question, but others will take some time (such as what precipitated the decline of the farm and stable).

The paddocks were built long and narrow on purpose. The design was allow the horses room to run back and forth but save space at the same time. A large circular or square enclosure would give room to excercise but would be space inefficient. The idea was practical one to allow room to run but conserve space.

Khaled

[louis finochio]

There should be a book at the CTBA library that will answer your ? Thats one of the cornerstones of Calif. racing.

[Michael]

Louis, I've read just about everything there is to read about California racing and breeding history. As you know, some of the most interesting and educational material often comes from first hand experience not often found in libraries. That's why I always like to pick the minds of eye witnesses.

When I was a kid, our local vet was Dr. Jack Baker, who for many years had been the resident vet at L.B. Mayer's farm. Dr. Baker tought me a lot of things about Mayer's operation without even knowing he did. I still refer to advice he gave me 40 years ago. I also remember Dr. Baker was almost scared of horses, and raised his voice at me more than once to keep still the animal he was working on.

[Michael]

Bump!

[louis finochio]

Dr. Bakers son Vince Baker is a vet and is working at Santa Anita, I remember his dad when I started working on the backside.

Graydon that works as a groom for trainer Roger Stein, also worked for Rex Ellsworth and was the groom for Candy Spots, I remember when I saw Candy Spots in his stall at Santa Anita, he was a monster of a TB.

[Michael]

Very interesting. Next time I'm on the backstretch I must look up Dr. Baker. Do you know which trainers use him most?

Candy Spots was a tall, long bodied horse. Amazing, really, that he was such a terriffic 2yo. As I recall, he went undefeated in 3 starts, won the Arlington-Washington Futurity (then the richest race in the country!), and was ranked 2nd to Never Bend at year's end. Eastern bias!

[louis finochio]

I talked to Graydon this AM and he told me he was the groom for Tipping Time, a SW for Ellsworth. Graydon told me that Rex Ellsworth went to Europe to purchase Nasrullah, but the Aga Khan told Ellsworth that he was already sold. So the Agan Khan let Rex look at Khaled, and Rex after watching him gallop noticed that Khaled had a breathing problem. Rex p
urchased Khaled any way and never regretted that decision.

Graydon told me that Ellsworth imported 3 TB from New Zealand and they were all useless in the breeding shed. The era of Rex Ellsworth was over as the well went dry.

Dr. Vince Baker works for Baffert, Sadler, and Uoin Harty, Vince is a real classy vet, at Xmas time he buys hundreds of tamales and gives them away to the backstretch workers.

[Khaled]

And why do you think his fortunes faded so quickly after he sold Olden Times, Prove It and Candy Spots to Gainesway? Was it the Pessin deal that crippled him, or did his run of luck just come to an end?

Why the operation fell apart is something I have thought about a great deal in my life. The operation did not fall because of the sell of Olden Times, Candy Spots, and Prove it. Candy Spots, Olden Times, and Prove it were syndicated at Gainesway. When Candy Spots died, Prove it was bought outright by Rex and returned to California. Olden Times was either resyndicated or the same syndication carried over after he left Gainesway. Rex owned 15-17 of the 30 shares in Olden Times. I would say that these sales were not the reason for the fall at all. You mentioned in another thread about possible reasons for why the stable faded was the sale of Swaps and the purchase of 40 mares from the Aga Khan. Some criticized this financial venture because it was gamble, but Rex needed badly to improve his stock to compete on the national scene. The sale of Swaps was necessary to finance the operation and buying the mares from the Aga Khan. I would not say that his fortunes turned south with the sale of Swaps in 1956 (John Galbraith), which was before the operation peaked. One unfortunate aspect of Khaled dying was that he was not replaced with another outstanding sire. Prince Royal, his intended replacement, failed at stud. However, all these reasons for the decline miss the real reason.

Here is the reason I think that the operation faded. The Ellsworth farm faded because of much deeper reasons than a few business and breeding mistakes. Rex Ellsworth had a full partner in his younger brother Reed (a fact that is known by very few people). Rex was the geneticist and the idealist of the partnership. He could not be bothered with the day to day operations. He had the big dreams and ran the business from the top. Reed was the manager and took care of the finances and the cattle ranches (they had several ranches in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado).

Reed was very good with people, while trying to extract information from Rex was a tiring process. Rex seldom talked and when he did he was vague and wouldn’t say what he meant. Those that worked for Rex or had business with him had a hard time knowing what he wanted. One had to be part of the family to understand him for the most part. When confusion arose, they could turn to Reed to find out exactly what needed to happen. Sadly Reed was killed in an airplane accident when visiting a ranch in northern AZ in 1960. His death had more far reaching effects than just losing a brother. Rex lost his full partner and glue that held his operation together. Like all good partnerships Reed brought to the table talent with finances, people, and business that Rex did not have. After Reed’s death Rex made many poor business decisions that Reed would not have done and took on bad partners, which would have had to do.

Sadly Heber followed Reed to the grave in 1968, and left Rex without his greatest two assets. He lost his brothers whose talents were essential to the health of the business and were complimentary to his talents. Rex needed these brothers for their horseman skills and the bond they had as brothers. All three brothers had personality quirks and different dispositions, but the talents they had complimented each other and offset the others’ deficiencies. Reed was good with people and finances. Rex was the front man, geneticist, and breeder. Heber was an invaluable help with care for the horses. Their faults were well known to each other, and each brother was a safeguard against other’s faults. They could keep each other in line. They argued constantly in some observers’ opinion. This was not as intense as some thought. This behavior was common and not mean spirited. It was the way they haggled and conversed. They were battling for ideas this way. Mesh, too, would argue with Rex about the handling of horses and training. This act was good because allowed them to confront each other’s problems without the hurt feelings and heated discussion. The arguments were not taken personally. When Reed died, Rex was left without his brother, business partner, chief financial officer, friend, and fellow horseman. His faults were not longer exposed and kept in check by his brothers. The loss was so deep that the operation never recovered.

At the same time of Reed’s death, the operation was expanding with the purchase of more horses, farms and ranches. Rex’s work load increased drastically as the operation increased in size and his workforce dwindled. He was left the only leader. He was not a manager and did not know how to lead a day-to-day operation. This was Heber and especially Reed’s job. He was left overworked and shorthanded. His sons and sons-in-law tried to fill the void but could not sufficiently replace the talent of their uncles. They left Rex unchecked and could not reigned Rex in. As a result he spent more money and did not keep the holdings efficiently managed. He was the sole leader of the operation then, and no one could effectively help him run the operation.

Another aspect that was crippling is when Mesh Tenney left. Rex’s son-in-law took over training the best stock, though he had little experience with horses. Mesh Tenney left because of this. Mesh could make a stakes winner out of a low end claimer. Rex's son-in-law could not win a claiming race with Swaps! Many good horses were wasted with this change in trainers.

The deal with Pessin and other horse deals with Murty were the final blows. Both were crooks and swindled millions. University of Kentucky tied up the land in court where the auctionhouse and track were being built long enough for Rex’s capital to run out. I think this was the entire reason for the court case. Though what happened to him was crooked, why was Rex in business with crooks in the first place! Reed’s wife said about Rex, “If Rex knew people as well as he did horses, the Ellsworth operation would still be in full force.” Rex was a great man but not a good businessman.

Final analysis: The loss of his brothers did in the operation. The business needed the joint effort of the brothers.

[Khaled]

I'd like to hear more of your impressions of Ellsworth's operation, and of his horsemanship. A few years back I read a 1956 interview he gave to the TB of California and was very impressed with his grasp of conformation issues, and their causal relationships to performance and injury. He claimed to have learned much of his insight on horseback while running cattle. I'm curious what you may be able to add from talking with him.

Rex spent most of his life on horseback. His relationship with horses was very unique to many other racehorse breeders and owners in that he spent more time riding a horse and working with horses than most. He knew horse behavior and their make-up inside and out. His experience was not from spending a little time on the track or reading books. He did not get his information from others but from his interactions with horses. He did not care how others were raising horses because he knew how he wanted to raise horses! That was sufficient.

The temperament of the homebred stallions was docile. They were all well behaved, even though some had inclinations to being headstrong, aggressive, or high strung. Prove it and Olden Times were very docile. Anyone could handle Olden Times. When Olden Times was still in training, Mesh would saddle him up and ride him around the track. Olden Times, considering his pedigree, could easily have been violent. Both his sire and broodmare sire lines were well known for aggressive behavior.

The Shoe (full brother to Swaps) stands out as one of the most gentle stallions ever. He was a lamb. He was not headstrong even when eager. Bryan Ellsworth (Rex's nephew and head of the breeding operation for a while) brought him out of the paddock to show to some people. He took off his belt and wrapped it around The Shoe’s neck and led him out of the paddock into the alley. The Shoe was eager to leave the paddock because he must have thought he was going to the breeding shed. His eagerness did not make him uncontrollable even with only a belt wrapped around his neck! He was so gentle with people and other horses.

When I talked with Bryan Ellsworth about the horses on the farm. He said that he was initially naïve about the disposition of horses. The idea that a horse could be vicious or bad behaved was unheard of. The concept that there were no problem horses only problem trainers was the foundation of Ellsworth training. If a horse acted up, the handler corrected the behavior. The idea that nasty disposition is simply his character was rejected on the Ellsworth farm. Their horses were expected to behave and they did. Bad behavior was just that, bad behavior. The only horse that Bryan considered nasty was Scud.

You asked in a another thread about the temperament of Prince Royal. I said that he was not that bad tempered. I must add a condition to that statement. He was not bad tempered because he was not allowed to be so. He simply was not allowed to indulge in his delinquent behavior.
He is an example of the power of proper handling, discipline and the ability of a master horseman. It would be easy to think that horses were not bad tempered if you spent all your time around the Ellsworth operation. Such behavior was not tolerated and corrected whenever it arose.

The Ellsworth stable and farm had the philosophy that they were not problem horses only problem handlers. I can’t help but believe that a horse does not exist that the Ellsworth brothers could not handle and get to behave. Heber, Evan, Rex and Reed Ellsworth were all master horsemen. Evan stands out as one of the best horsemen. He understood them to a depth that was truly impressive. He was the one allowed to exercise the stallions. He could handle any horse. One experience that I can relate about Prince Royal and Evan Ellsworth was when people came to see Prince Royal. He brought Prince Royal out to the stable door, and the people including children were watching him. As children are, they started to creep closer to Prince Royal. To the horror and disgust of those watching, Evan yanked on the shank hard enough to nearly bring Prince Royal onto his haunches. The observers asked why he would do such a thing when Prince Royal was just standing there calmly. Evan responded that Prince Royal was preparing to pounce on the children. They did not understand the subtle signs of horse behavior and were completely unaware of Prince Royal’s intentions. Prince Royal had his ears pinned, was arching his neck slightly, and positioning his body for a charge. Evan recognized the behavior and when Prince Royal was ready to make his charge, he corrected the behavior. Prince Royal would also savage the mares while breeding) if he was allowed. He was watched closely and disciplined if he attempted to savage any mares. Only spending a lot of time with Prince Royal would reveal his delinquent tendencies because he seldom got away with anything.

Scud probably could have been corrected of his dreadful disposition but the time and work required was not worth the effort. Sorting out the complicated issues that led to his disposition would have been extremely time consuming, and no one had the time to engage in the effort.

[Bill from WA]

WOW!
What a fascinating discourse. Nothing more spellbinding than hearing history from those who were there. Thank you for sharing. A lot of questions that I've had have been answered. You should write a book.

Bill

[Khaled]

Here is a little experience that I enjoyed. I was talking with Rex on the Hackberry Ranch a few years before he died. I mentioned that many believe that the match race between Swaps and Nashua showed Nashua's superiority (I just wanted to get Rex going). He quipped back quickly, "That wasn't a race! It was a slow gallop. They ran a mile and a quarter in 2:04. I have stock horses that could run faster than that!"