After a lifetime of circadian clocks waking him up between 1:15 and 2:45 a.m. to start the morning, early even for a horse trainer, Bill Spawr may finally be ready to “give up on his feet.” that habit.”
That’s not the only change in the 83-year-old’s life. As first reported by Daily Racing Form, Spawr disbanded his small stable, leaving behind the coaching profession due to what he described as “too much regulation” in horse racing in California. Southern California-based Spawr still plans to stay involved as a consultant to some of his longtime clients and race some of the horses he owns in partnership.
Known for his equestrian prowess in a racing career that began in 1958 before becoming head coach in the 1970s, Spawr considers the examination of horses from regulated veterinarians one of the most important. His main disappointment.
Spawr said regulated veterinarians need to trust the trainer more and talk about the horse’s health.
According to procedures adopted by the California Horse Racing Board and racetracks in the state, horses in California are tested more often than horses in other regions. Those inspections, as well as other regulations and cultural changes from industry participants, are often cited by officials as contributing factors to the steep drop in equine mortality. since then. Santa Anita . Park experienced a spike in early 2019.
Supervision of the Department of Equestrian Integrity and Safety and its Anti-Doping and Drug Control will begin in California and most Thoroughbred racing states later this month.
Spawr practice leaves the coaching ranks having trained 1,709 winners from 9,900 starters, and his horses make more than $48.6 million. The first of those victories was that of the half-California amazombie during Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Churchill Downs during the sprinter’s Eclipse Award-winning season in 2011. Spawr co-owns him with Thomas Sanford.
Bill Spawr Raises Amazon’s Eclipse Award for Champion Men’s Sprinter 2011
Spawr also won 29 other graded bet races with horses such as Sensational Star, Exchange, Enjoy the Moment, Bordonaro , Skye Diamond And Midnight Bisou —who he coached when she finished third in the 2018 Kentucky Oaks (G1) during her 3-year-old season before she moved to Hall of Fame coach Steve Asmussen.
When asked about his lasting memories of training these and other horses, Spawr said their daily interactions stick with him.
“My highlight was going to the stables and seeing the horses and feeding them,” he said.
Owner Jon Lindo, who has raced with the trainer for 35 years, said the bond the trainer shares with his horses and his attention to detail is unmatched. mistake.
“The thing about him is that he always wants to make the horse happy,” says Lindo. “We asked for a lot. When we asked for a lot of them, I would forget about them in about six or eight weeks. He would fiddle with them, figure out what excites them, and makes them amusing. heart, and once he gets to that point, then he goes on with them and trains them. He really gets along with them. He loves horses.”
Lindo, who owns Skye Diamonds with Allen Racing, Bloom Racing Stables and Tom Acker, isn’t the only one to benefit from Spawr’s skill at spotting leads and developing them into athletes. Run at a higher level.
“He took someone like me to the Breeders’ Cup at my home track at Del Mar, right down the street from where I live,” said Lindo. “It’s really a treat. To be able to participate in the Breeders’ Cup with a horse we requested. She didn’t win but she finished fourth and helped them run for the money there. Just to be able to participate in something like that for someone like me who was dealing with mostly cheaper horses didn’t get there.
“But (Bill) did it time and time again. He asked for the Thriller Star for $32,000; he made over $400,000. He asked Exchange for $50,000. la and made her a millionaire and 1st place winner. My Sonny Boy he asked for for $62,500 and he won the original Cal Cup Classic. I mean one after the other.”
Some of the sport’s finest equestrians have also competed for Spawr, including Laffit Pincay, Frankie Dettori, Mike Smith, Richard Migliore and Jorge Velasquez.
Mike Smith guides Amazombie to victory in Breeders’ Cup Sprint 2011 at Churchill Downs
When scheduled jockey Patrick Valenzuela was absent from the 1990 California Cup Classic afternoon race, Spawr’s assistant Darryl Rader dashed into the Santa Anita parking lot and ran after Velasquez, who was leaving the track. mid-afternoon, for a late replacement on the My Boy Sonny. Naturally, the horse won.
Many years later, at Belmont ParkThe jockey and coach will share laughs about how that memorable pairing played out.
“A true rider. I love riding because of him,” tweeted Migliore, who has moved his familiar East Coast base for horseback riding in California for a while. “He’s one of the greatest coaches I’ve had the honor of driving with. A great guy. The game was reduced when he retired.”
Spawr, who won multiple meet-coaching titles in Southern California during the 1990s and early 2000s, scattered his horses among other trainers, with some of them going to Phil D’ Amato and Dean Pederson, Lindo said.
But Lindo was still able to use Spawr’s keen eye to make recommendations, noting that old-school riders still take notes on potential prospects after assessing them on race days.
“I hate seeing his garage because he has all these shows with notes in them,” he said.
Spawr says his program archive is smaller than it used to be. “I just threw the ones from 2019 and 2018,” he laughs.
Spawr’s commitment to claim rights is reflected in its return to its owner.
“He didn’t have many breeders who could give him a herd of horses to start with,” says Lindo. “We gave him what we could, and he made a lot of chicken feathers into chicken soup.”
