JOHN C. HARRIS
By Tracy Gantz
August 17, 2023
When California Chrome stormed down the Churchill Downs stretch in 2014 to become the first California-bred winner of the Kentucky Derby since 1962, John Harris and Doug Burge stood next to each other watching the race in the Churchill grandstand.
As California Chrome reached the lead and started to pull away in the stretch, Burge turned to Harris and said, "John, he's going to win!"
Burge, today president of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, recalls seeing tears streaming down Harris' face.
"He didn't own the horse," Burge said. "But he was so proud that his team at Harris Farms had a major part in the first Cal-bred to win the Derby in over 50 years. I'll always remember that."
Plenty of Harris Farms homebreds have stood in the winner's circle sporting Harris' green and white silks. But just as important have been the client successes. Whether it's horses like California Chrome and 2000 Horse of the Year and two-time Breeders' Cup Classic winner Tiznow, who were foaled and raised at Harris Farms, or the countless stakes winners by the many California leading sires that have stood and continue to stand there, Harris Farms has played a vital role.
The Harris brand is ubiquitous to racing people as well as to anyone who has ever driven Interstate-5 between Los Angeles and San Francisco. You can't miss signs for the state's largest cattle operation, and the gorgeous Harris Ranch Inn & Restaurant makes a perfect rest stop, where those who have the time can experience the best steak dinner they have ever tasted.
But the breezy drive through Coalinga, a little town southwest of Fresno, will tell you nothing about John Harris, the man who, with his family, built Harris Ranch and its horse division, Harris Farms. Though Harris sold the beef operation several years ago, he continues to lead the horse division to annually rank among the state's top breeders, many times as #1.
Yet Harris is the first to tell you that it's a team effort. He frequently credits the many men and women who work at Harris-often for decades-with every success, calling the Harris team "the mainstay to our good reputation."
An interstate drive past the Harris facilities also won't indicate any of the service that John Harris has provided to people, animals, and the racing industry because it's not something he advertises. He simply goes behind the scenes and gets the job done, whether that means pushing for legislation to improve racing, sitting on advisory panels for university veterinary and animal husbandry programs, or supplying needed funding.
In honoring John Harris at this year's fundraising dinner, the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation is recognizing the contributions of a man who believes strongly in the organization's goals.
"The Gregson Foundation relies on the support of people like John Harris," said Jenine Sahadi, the foundation's president. "We are grateful not only for John's decades-long financial support of our organization and programs, but also for his service to every aspect of the Thoroughbred industry. He has worked tirelessly for owners, breeders, and racetracks, as well as served on the boards of almost every racing organization in the state."
One of the Gregson Foundation's major accomplishments is helping many young people finance their college educations. That's a mission John Harris promotes through his own endeavors. In 1981 he established the Jack A. Harris Memorial Scholarship Foundation to honor his late father and to provide financial assistance to those pursuing higher education. From the very beginning of his horse operation, John has stressed the importance of a college education, even in jobs that might not seem to require it, and he has given numerous employment opportunities to students of California universities.
John Valpredo & John Harris
"It helps youngsters get into the industry by providing them with a perfect learning environment," Harris once explained. "It also presents us with a key way to find the kind of people we are looking for, namely qualified, dedicated, and capable horse lovers who are not afraid of hard work."
That philosophy led Harris to hire Dave McGlothlin in the early 1980s as the manager of the horse division. McGlothlin had a master's degree in equine reproduction from Colorado State University, and he stayed at Harris Farms for the next four decades, only leaving upon retirement.
Per Antonsen has been with Harris Farms nearly as long, and he continues to head up the training division. With Harris, McGlothlin, and Antonsen guiding Harris Farms, the operation has continuously produced a long line of homebred stakes winners and California-bred champions.
Harris also believes in lifelong education, something he has practiced in his decades of service on the CTBA board.
During one of his terms as CTBA president, Harris noted that the CTBA's mission should include conducting "seminars that are more hands-on and do a better job of focusing on all the details and aspects of raising a good horse." Then Harris stepped up to do just that, for years hosting educational seminars at the farm in conjunction with the CTBA. They brought in speakers on all subjects, especially veterinary and equine management, and attendees could observe the entire Harris Farms operation.
John's parents, Jack and Teresa, began building the current cattle ranch in 1937. Horses followed when Jack claimed his first runner in 1953. Their son eagerly joined his father in the sport, raising and racing horses as early as age 12. John wasn't about to neglect his education, however, and he attended the University of California at Davis, graduating in 1965 with a degree in animal production.
The Harris family established Harris Ranch as a major agricultural hub on land that John Harris has called a blessing of "some of the best weather, soils, and water in the world." Jack's first major homebred racehorse was Big Jess, named after a man who had been with the farm for 30 years.
Foaled in 1967, Big Jess competed throughout California, winning stakes at Golden Gate Fields, Bay Meadows, Pleasanton, and Stockton. He also finished third in the 1972 Harvest Stakes at the Big Fresno Fair. That's the hometown crowd, a place that has always meant a great deal to the Harris family.
Today, John Harris philanthropically supports the Fresno fairgrounds and the Big Fresno Fair Museum, which opened in 2012. During the October race meeting, the fair annually conducts the Harris Farms Stakes, which Harris homebred Fashionably Fast won twice.
Big Jess stood at stud at Harris Farms, his foals including Juan Barrera, who won the Del Mar Derby in 1981, the same year Jack Harris died. Harris Farms has subsequently stood many leading California sires, including Unusual Heat, Cee's Tizzy, and Lucky Pulpit. Today's stallion roster includes Eclipse Award winner Acclamation (a son of Unusual Heat) and leading sire Smiling Tiger.
John's loyalty extends beyond Harris Farms employees. He gave young trainer Carla Gaines her first horse, Glory Quest, in 1989, and in the following decades, Gaines has trained numerous stakes winners for Harris Farms.
Gaines has never forgotten Glory Quest. She paid tribute to the horse and the person who believed in her after she saddled Harris Farms homebred Coalinga Road to win this year's Unusual Heat Turf Classic at Santa Anita.
"I can't describe in words how important the support from John Harris has been," Gaines said in the winner's circle.
John Harris & Carla Gaines
Gaines has trained such Harris stakes winners as Super High, Lucky J.H., Closing Remarks, and Desert Law.
"She is a good trainer for a breeder, as she loves her horses and is good at evaluating their strengths and weaknesses," said Harris.
Gaines isn't the only trainer who has succeeded with Harris-bred runners. The late Howard Zucker developed Moscow Changes into a Cal-bred champion. Greg Gilchrist trained 1991 La Brea Stakes winner and Cal-bred champion Teresa Mc, named for John Harris' mother, and two of the best runners Harris bred and raced in partnership: Soviet Problem and Work the Crowd.
Harris bred Soviet Problem with Don Valpredo, and she was one of the fastest fillies ever foaled in California. In 1994, the year she was named Cal-bred Horse of the Year, Soviet Problem won not one, but two match races, the first on dirt at Golden Gate Fields and the second on turf at Del Mar.
Longtime friends Harris and Valpredo have several other things in common. Both have served on the California Horse Racing Board, John as chairman for three years, and both are longtime current board members of the CTBA and former presidents of that organization. They are also members of the California Racing Hall of Fame and have served on the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California.
Work the Crowd came out of Harris' friendship with the late Ken Maddy, the California state senator who authored so much legislation in support of the racing industry. Harris met Maddy when Maddy was running for the Assembly to represent the Fresno area.
"I was not too involved in politics then," Harris wrote in a 1999 tribute to Maddy. "But once he mentioned that he liked horse racing, I knew that I had found my main man."
That friendship provided the foundation for much racing legislation, Maddy as a state legislator and Harris as head of the CTBA's legislative committee for many years. Harris bred Work the Crowd, a daughter of the sire Political Ambition, with the Amen Stable of Maddy's family, which included Maddy's mother, Anna. Harris Farms raced Work the Crowd with Norma Foster Maddy, Ken's wife.
Work the Crowd would often run up consecutive stakes wins-four in 1993, three in 1994, and four in 1995. She subsequently developed a lung infection, and Harris recalled Maddy often visiting the U.C. Davis Veterinary Hospital to help nurse Work the Crowd back to health.
Maddy and Harris have been among the biggest supporters of the U.C. Davis equine program. Today the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory is the state-of-the-art testing lab at Davis that performs the drug testing on all samples generated from racehorses in the state.
In 2020, Harris received the Jerry W. Fielder Memorial Award from the U.C. Davis Cal Aggie Alumni Association for contributions that helped the university maintain its prominence in agriculture and animal health. He has served on the university's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean's Advisory Council and the Center for Equine Health's Advisory Board.
Even closer to home, Harris Farms is working with West Hills College, the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation at the Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga. Harris has donated horses to the program, which gives horses and prisoners a new start through its vocational training program.
Name a racing entity, and John Harris has probably been involved. He has served on the board of Breeders' Cup Ltd. and the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, and he continues to be a member of The Jockey Club.
When Harris was inducted into the California Racing Hall of Fame in 2008, Mike Marten of the CHRB summed it up well.
"John Harris is at the top of the list when it comes to those who donate their time and work tirelessly to improve the game," Marten said. "In addition to developing one of the most important Thoroughbred breeding and racing operations in the state, John has worked behind the scenes to fix problems, generate improvements, and bring stability to an industry composed of often-conflicting interests."
