l

The Sunshine ManB Y S C O T T D A V I S

I t was a t iny ad, no b igger thanI about three by five inches, withI words to the effect of "Experi-enced Farm Manager SeekingWork." And all i t did was perma-nently alter the hierarchy of Ameri-can Thoroughbred breeding bytransforming Florida into a breedingn n r x r a r h n r r c e

The ad, placed by Marylandhorseman Elmer Heubeck, appearedin the classified section of The Blood-Horse in August 1945. Heubeck, a1939 graduate of the University of

Elmer Heubeck,one of Florida'sThoroughbred

pioneers, still castsa long shadow

Maryland with a degree in animalhusbandry, had served five years asthe farm manager for C.E. Tuttle atCaves Valley Farm, located in theheart of breeding country in the OIdLine State. When Tuttle decided tomove his operation to Oregon,Heubeck-with year-old son (Kerry)and wife Harriet-chose not tomove. Instead he paid a price he re-calls was "just pennies" to place thead that caught the attention of CarlRose, and the duo quickly proceededto place the Florida breeding indus-try on the map.

But it was not without some reser-vations that Heubeck left his home

Elmer and Harriet Heubeck at their Quail Roost ll near ocala, Fla.

7076 T H E B L O O D - H O R S E I D E C E M B E R T , 2 O O 2

(continued on p age 7 0 80 )

(continued from p age 7 07 6 )for Ocala, Fla., the county seat of MarionCounty. To that point, the few breedingfarms that existed in the state were on thepeninsula's southern tip, near the race-tracks. Rose had established the Ocalaarea's first Thoroughbred farm, Rosemere,in 1936, but it seemed very little like whatHeubeck envisioned a breeding farm to be.

"lt scared me," he recalled with a grin. "ltwas mostly barbed wire fencing and Mr.Rose let all of the animals run around to-gether; horses, pigs, chicken, sheep, cattle,and hound dogs all together like Noah'sArk. It was really sandy and they had those

S O U T H E A S T R E G I O N A L

weird bugs and the palm trees-it suredidn't look like horse country the way weknew it!"

Still, Heubeck noticed the "land rolledproperly," reminding him somewhat ofEastern Maryland, and he quickly builtRosemere into a high-power breeding oper-ation. In addition to the physical improve-ments on the property-wooden fencingand horse barns primary among them-Heubeck set out to improve the quality ofthe horses which, up to that point, wereconsidered so inferior that Florida-bredscompeting against open company wouldreceive a five-pound weight allowance.

"The horses didn't have proper nutritionand Mr. Rose didn't want to spend a lot ofmoney buying horses," said Heubeck, whoestimated the most money Rose ever spentfor a horse was $250. "He would wait untilthe end of the meet in Tampa (then calledSunshine ParkJ and buy mares that eitherwere taken by the feed man as payment forbad bills, or ones that weren't going to beshipped north."

Rosemere stood stallions as well, but ini-tially all were remount stallions, confiscat-ed as bounty from the Germans duringWorld War II and granted to U.S. farms foruse. Though Heubeck recalled that Samu-rai, the farm's top stallion, was a top stakeswinner in Germany, he did not compare tothose offered by Central Kentucky breedingoperations. But with Rose's stature as amajor player in land construction in thestate and a member of Florida's RacingCommission, Rosemere's future as a com-mercial breeder was secure.

Initially, all the farm's offspring weresold to Charles O'Neil, a liquor salesmanfrom Canada who partnered with Rose inRosemere. But within four years of his ar-rival, Heubeck had established a patternthat would become the foundation fortoday's 2-year-olds in training sales.

With Rose's clout-"He was the only onewho could get the stalls he needed atHialeah. " Heubeck said-Rosemere wouldsend its entire output of yearlings by van toHialeah. Numbering about 30 by the mid-1950s, they would be accompanied byHeubeck and depart Ocala in mid-Novem-ber. Having been broken and trained on thefarm, the babies would invariably work afast three furlongs within days of their ar-

Heubeck has built new barns and two training tracks at Ouail Roost ll

SPECIAT COACHLeoding Money-Eorning Sire in Alobomo

Zafarrancho (Argl -Volilont, by Dislinctive Pro. Stokes Winning Miler with coreer eornings ol $449,942o Won the $290,500 Jefferson Cup S. ot Churchill Downs

. Multiple Groded Stokes-Ploced on turf ot Colder. Fomily of Chompion SUSAN'S GlRt ($l ,251 ,6681,

leoding sire ond Gl SW COPELAN, etc.Fee lo seleci mores: $2,500

MRON THE HATFirst ond Only Son of Glittermon lo Stond in Alqbomq

Glittermon - Love Cut, by Cutlasso Broke moiden while defeoting older horses ot first osking

. Stokes winner of $50,650r Won roces from 6 furlongs Io 1 1/16 miles

Fee to select mores: $ l,5OOPhone 205.967.1162

Allen "Doc" Koslin

7080 T H E B L O O D - H O R S E I D E C E M B E R 7 , 2 O O 2

-t

rival, immediately catching the eye of otherhorsemen and attracting offers. By the endof the meet the following March, all hadfound new homes.

"We didn't have any trouble selling themat all," Heubeck said. "Rose's idea from thestafi was commercial, which was quite un-usual at the time. He never had a real racingstable, and he recognized that the bestplace to sell them was at the track after theyshowed what they could do in a workout ora race."

As a result, the Florida-breds, not Iongbefore considered too puny and poorly bredto compete, began to win races outside ofthe state. The first Rosemere crop to sell atHialeah attracted owners from Pennsylva-nia, Chicago, Massachusetts, and evenVenezuela. Among that group was a coltnamed Werwolf, produced by Heubeck'smare Leonardtown, whose $12,500 sale toNew York owner Mrs. J.G. Smy'th rained at-tention on the operation. Heubeck's mare,named after a town in Maryland, producedthree stakes winners for the breeder, in-cluding Wolf Gal in 1951 and Meniwolf in

S O U T H E A S T R E G I O N A L

1952. Heubeck said that Werwolf's successon the track was so unexpected that he de-cided to name all the resultant foals out ofLeonardtown with similar names.

"l bought her on the cuff," HeubeckIaughed, "and paid off the $500 when shewon her first start for me. She continued torepay me with her offspring."

Rosemere in specific and Ocala in gener-al were on the map: the Feb. 13, 1949, edi-tion of the Miami Herold noted, "Don't besurprised if Ocala becomes the Lexington ofFlorida." Even The Blood-Horse took note:of Smyth's decision to ship Werwolf andanother Rosemere-bred named Dalpark toher racing stable in California it was writ-ten, "She is certainly a brave woman...lfone of these should win a stakes on theWest Coast, she'd need a bodyguard."

By the late 1950s, with the Ocala breed-ing industry well established-its Needlessolidified that with his Kentucky Derby winin 1956-Rose was beginning to slowdown, and helped Heubeck find a farm ofhis own.

"He knew I wanted a farm," Heubeck re-called of purchasing his first Quail RoostFarm. "l was down at Hialeah in the springof 1958 and he told me I'd better come onback to Ocala because there was a good oneand it was going to sell real quick."

Named for its previous use as a huntingpreserve, Heubeck called Quail Roost homefor 30 years, occupying the property withcattle in addition to the 20-25 mares he andHarriet had accumulated. Although he ex-pected to spend the majority of his timethere, the entry into the Florida breedingbusiness of another titan, Jack Dreyfus,quickly changed that.

The New York financier, who had beeninvolved in racing for just a few years,heard Rosemere might be for sale and, withthe mindset that Florida-breds outper-formed their pedigree and price, traveled to

Ocala. where he was introduced toHeubeck.

"We hit it off right away," Dreyfus said.Instead ofRosemere, though, Heubeck sug-gested Dreyfus consider a 1,200-acre parcelin the northern part of Marion County thatRose had leased to raise hay, reasoning thatthe land would be cheaper and Dreyfuscould later obtain additional surroundingparcels without trouble.

Dreyfus took the advice, and in 1961 letHeubeck loose to create Hobeau Farms.

"He built and ran the entire thing," saidDreyfus. "And it was an absolutely beautiful farm. Everything was first-class and ev-erything was done from the horse's point ofview."

More than 40 years later, Dreyfus stillconsiders Heubeck among his closestfriends and calls him remarkable.

"He is brilliant in all of the details," Drey-fus said. "He is creative and contentious,which is a combination you can't find veryoften."

Under Heubeck's direction, Hobeauquickly rose to become one of the top breed-ing and racing farms not only in Florida butin the nation, ranking among the country'stop 10 in leading money-winning ownersfor 15 consecutive years beginning in1.962.During its heyday in the late 1960s and early'70s, Hobeau's earnings were routinely inthe top five; in its best year, 1967, no otherowner earned more than its $1,120,143.

"We had very good luck very early atHobeau," Heubeck said. "Mr. Dreyfus wasinterested in a racing stable, and he boughtsome very good horses. He doesn't claim tobe a horseman, but he knows numbers."

Hobeau's best horses were a combina-tion of purchased horses and homebreds,with many of the latter tracing back to thefirst horse Dreyfus ever owned, Beau Gar.Dreyfus owned 25 % of Beau Gar when heraced, and bought the remainder upon re-

Heubeck (far right) still ponies his horses to the track each morning

Srre Stks Wnrs Slks Wns

C a n d y S t r i p e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1n i n n r h r n n l z 7 1 t

N o t e b o o k . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3F o r m a l D i n n e r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7L i t e t h e F u s e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7L o s t S o 1 d i e r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7l e l f T r r r a 6 6

Tour d 'O r . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Wekiva Spr i ngs . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . .4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7I r rnkr r Nnr th 4 5

For tunate Pr0spec t . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Gela Dannar 3 5

Orr f f lankor 3 5

Ahcpn i F l r rsq ian ? 4

Gronmqf i ck 3 4

Staek

Tact ica l Advantage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Way Wes t (FR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Bucksp |ashe r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Stormy At |ant ic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Suave Prospect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3K i ss in K r i s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Q l z i n T r i a l , q

Itil on ka A

G o l d e n G e a r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Aazaam I 2

l s l a n d W h i r 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2lAh l r r 2 2

L i n e l n T h e S a n d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Meadow F l i9h t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2lvl inpr's lrark 2 2

Promicrch in 2 2

R o b y n D a n c e r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Sword Dance ( lRE) . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

7082 T H E B I - O O D - H O R S E I D E C E M B E R 7 , 2 O O 2

tirement, sending the son of Count Fleetdown to his new farm to serve as a stallion.His offspring included Beau Purple-"Thebest horse I ever owned," Dreyfus assert-ed-who defeated five-time Horse of theYear Kelso three times: in the 1962 Subur-ban Handicap and Man o' War Stakes andthen in the 1963 Widener Handicap. "lt wasi10% luck but the rest was skill," Dreyfusremembered with a chuckle.

Still, it was a combination of the skills ofHeubeck as farm manager and the manthey hired in 1963 to be their trainer, AllenJerkens, that led to Hobeau runners upend-ing champions, as Beau Purple had done,commonplace.

Handsome Boy, a homebred son of BeauGar, romped by eight lengths over Buck-passer in the 1967 Brooklyn Handicap. Sixyears later, Onion, a gelding produced froma Beau Gar mare, shocked Secretariat in theWhitney Stakes (gr. D . As if to prove the featsimple, yet another Hobeau colorbearer,Prove Out, conquered the mighty Secretari-at the following month in the WoodwardStakes (gr. I), and then for good measure de-feated Riva Ridge in the Jockey Club GoldCup (gr. I). Two years later, Hobeau again

S O U T H E A S T R E G I O N A L

captured that traditional race when GroupPIan outlasted heavy favorite Wajima.

In between Handsome Boy and Onionthere were such top quality runners asTaken Aback, Winnie, and Poker Night,and though Jerkens was receiving most ofthe credit, the Hall of Fame trainer points toHeubeck as an important part of the reasonfor Hobeau's success.

"He's a great horseman," Jerkens said."He did a great job of preparation. Most ofthe horses were within just a couple weeksof being ready to race when they came fromthe farm."

Jerkens attributes Heubeck's veterinarytraining as an important factor, describingthe farm manager's work with the sore-footed Beau Purple.

"He would improvise-I remember hebuilt a flowing stream at the farm that heused to dip the horse's feet into. Heck, weeven had horses who bowed tendons andcame back to win stakes," Jerkens said,mentioning Mac's Sparkler, who in 1967alone captured the Columbiana and BlackHelen Handicaps and Beldame Stakes.

Jerkens, Iike everyone who encountersHeubeck, was impressed by his dedication,a trait he passed on to Craig Wheeler.Wheeler became Hobeau's assistant man-ager under Heubeck in1979 and assumedthe role of farm manager upon Heubeck'sretirement in 1987.

"He's the hardest working man in thebusiness," Wheeler said of his former boss."He wouldn't ask you to do anything he

Sire 2yos 2yo Rnrc 2yo Wnrs

F n r m a l D i n n a r e L

P a h l a l i ^ l

Srrave Prosneci 43 25 15Dorrhle Hnnnr 65 36 14Tant iea l Adven l rna 78 i3 14

Fortunate Prospect...Sem0ran. . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . .ConcertoNotebook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mister Jo1ie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.44. . . . . . . .21 . . . . . . . .1 3

.30 . . . . . . . . 20 . . . . . . . . 12

.43. . . . . . . .20 . . . . . . . .1 2

.58 . . . . . . . . 25 . . . . . . . . 12

.42 . . . . . . . . 17 . . . . . . . . 1 1A O t q 1 1

i n n a l

Sword Dance ( lRE) . . . . . . . .61 . . . . . . . .31 . . . . . . . .1 0Noactor 25 15 q

Norihern Af laet 36 1A q

Robyn Dancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 . . . . . . . .25 . . . . . . . . . .9T o u r d ' O r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 0 , . . . . . . . 2 2 . . . . . . . . . . 9M e c k e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8 . . . . . . . . 1 6 . . . . . . . . . . 8C o l o n y 1 i 9 h t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8 . . . . . . . . 1 7 . . . . . . . , , . 8D e v o n g a t e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 0 . . . , . , . . 1 6 . . . . . . . . . . 8Stormy At lan t ic . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 . . . . . . . . 1 I . . . . . . . . . .8M e a d o w F | i 9 h t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7 . . . . . . . . 1 0 . . . . . . . . , . 6/ lnnnnrdatc Tr rno Da O A

I i te the Fuse 26 12 6Mioral inn Monn 29 R 6ls l t Trrre 12 1 t AI t /as tc r R i l l 12 14 A

Way West (FR). . . . . . . . . . . . . .50. . . . . . . .25. . . . . . . . . .6Los t So |d ie r . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 . . . . . . . . 17 . . . . . . . . . . 6Whi tney Tower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84. . . . . . . .24 . . . . . . . . . .6

wouldn't do himself, and with his knowl-edge of horses and farms, he did virtuallyeverything. He is happy only when he'sworking, and he works all of the time. "

Such is Heubeck's influence that scat-tered throughout Thoroughbred racing re-main men who learned under his tutelage.Manny Tortora, who earlier this year be-came the all-time winningest trainer in thehistory of Calder Race Course is one, hav-ing worked under Heubeck as an exerciserider at Rosemere in the mid-1950s. Anoth-er is trainer Jimmy Picou, who was the ex-ercise rider for the Rosemere yearlings atHialeah from 1950 through 1952.

"He could tell you how to ride a horsebetter than the rider," Picou said. Alsomentioning Heubeck's background in vet-erinary medicine, Picou noted howHeubeck was able to get older runners thathad broken down back to the track andinto the winner's circle. "What he did atRosemere was a work of art," he said. "Heknows horses inside and out."

With such a background, of course, it isnot surprising that a man like ElmerHeubeck was not content with a rockingchair and gold watch when he left Hobeau.He immediately went to work on QuailRoost, the farm he had owned for 27 yearsbut, by his own admission, did very littlewith while at Hobeau. Once again the physi-cal structure was primary, but Heubeck alsobrought along his broodmare band and de-veloped the former wildlife habitat as ahaven for other animals of varying sorts."lt's a menagerie," said Picou. "He's entirelydevoted to animals." Agreed Tortora, "He'snot only a great horseman, but also one ofthe best agricultural minds anywhere."

And an optimist, too. In 1999, the then82-year-old Heubeck and his wife, Harriet,who recently celebrated their 62nd weddinganniversary, sold Quail Roost and pur-chased another parcel of land. Named QuailRoost II, Heubeck immediately went towork building new barns and two trainingtracks: a seven-eighths-mile grass courseand one-mile dirt oval. Although slowedslightly by recent heart surgery, Heubeckstill ponies his horses to the track everymoming and keeps up with his duties. "l'vealways trained horses and I'll probably keepdoing it until they put me in a box," he said.

When that day comes, Heubeck-forwhom Calder Race Course recently inaugu-rated a race for Florida-breds-will be hon-ored alongside Rose as men whose visiontransformed the state's breeding industryfrom virtually nothing into a powerhouse,ranking second in virtually all major cate-gories. "l always thought Florida could doit," he said. "The grass grows good, it's anice climate, and the horses are outside allyear long. I always said I thought that Flori-da will overtake Kentuckv. and I think it'sgoing to, too." lJ

Srre Rnrs Wnrs

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Nnlahnnk a4 A'

Tactical AdvantageF n r m a l h i n n a r

50 76

l ch la 1 'Tnr r r d '6 r teFlnhvn Danncr i2Line ln The Sand..Qrrrnrd f lanna / lElF

37 , o I

Minar 's [ /a rk o5ls lt True ..Monthrook

92 . . . . . . , . . . . . 6106 61

Wekiva Spr ings . . . . . . . . .( lnnnnrda'c Tr rna 7L AC

Kissin Kr is qq 4R

Premiership 84 .47

Gnld A la r t 41,l i lanko 74. La.

Golden Gear 74 47Lite the Fuse... .Qilrrar Rr rnk

.64 . . . . . . . . . . . .427n ao

Grnnmslick 77 42

Candy StripesMisler , lo l ie

77 . . . . . . . . . . . .4065 39

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Colony L igh t . . . . . . . . . .Aata f)annar

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58 . . . . . . . . . . . .3459 ?4

Way West (FR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Whilnarr Tnurar

78 . . . . . . . . . . . .34nE ea

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7084 T H E B T O O D , H O R S E T D E C E M B E R 7 , 2 O O 2