NEWS
California mainstay Trudy McCaffery dies at 62
Posted: Monday, February 12, 2007 5:57 PM
TRUDY MCCAFFERY
Benoit & Associates photo
By Frank Angst
Trudy McCaffery, who bred and campaigned Pacific Classic (G1) winners Came Home and Free House, died on Monday in Rancho Santa Fe, California. She was 62.
Typically working in partnership with John Toffan, McCaffery bred, and often raced, a string of top horses including two, Mane Minister and Free House, who placed in all three Triple Crown races. The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association named the Canadian-born partners Owners of the Year in 1997 when Free House won the Santa Anita Derby (G1), placed third in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1), and finished second by a head to Silver Charm in the Preakness Stakes (G1).
McCaffery’s sister, Marilyn Hoffman, said the family enjoyed a life-long love affair with horses while growing up in Calgary.
“We absolutely grew up with horses and they were always a big part of our lives,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman said a memorial service is being planned for 5 p.m. PST on Friday at Santa Anita Park. McCaffery had been suffering from lung cancer but in the last few weeks was feeling well enough to meet with family members and friends. In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation, a charity that benefits backstretch workers.
“She’s with our dad now and with Bosque Redondo,” Hoffman said.
Bosque Redondo broke down in the 2002 Pacific Classic, which was won by stablemate Came Home. Surgery was performed on Bosque Redondo, but several months later he foundered and was euthanized.
While that may have been the low in McCaffery’s racing career, Came Home provided many of the highs. Named after he was offered for sale as a weanling, yearling, and two-year-old, Came Home each time failed to reach reserve. Before winning the Santa Anita Derby, Came Home registered victories in the San Vicente (G2) and San Rafael (G2) Stakes to enter the Kentucky Derby on a three-race win streak. The Gone West colt finished tenth in the Churchill Downs classic.
Came Home returned for a successful summer-fall campaign with victories in the Affirmed Handicap (G2) and Swaps Stakes (G2) before his Pacific Classic victory. In that win, Came Home topped dual classic winner War Emblem, older horses, and answered—once and for all—questions about his ability to go 1 1/4 miles.
“He’s the man now. He’s more mature now. He’s learned how to relax. At the three-eighths pole, I knew he had it won,” McCaffery said after the triumph. “The buyers said he was too small. After today, he’s mighty big.”
McCaffery, a successful rider of jumpers and hunters, and Toffan began their partnership in 1989 when they purchased six yearlings in Kentucky. All six of those horses went on to win races and three, Mane Minister, Nice Assay, and Visible Gold, won stakes races.
As a three-year-old, Mane Minister, by Deputy Minister, won two stakes at Santa Anita Park before placing third in all three classics. Nice Assay, by Clever Trick, won five stakes in her career, including the 1991 Linda Vista Breeders’ Cup Handicap (G3) at Santa Anita. Visible Gold, by Deputy Minister, won three stakes, including the ’93 Santa Anita Budweiser Breeders’ Cup Handicap (G3).
In addition to helping the partnership to a fast start, Nice Assay also would later produce Grade 2 winner A. P. Assay and Came Home. Bred in partnership with Toffan and campaigned by McCaffery, Toffan, John Goodman, and William Farish, Came Home won eight stakes in 12 career starts, including the 2001 Hopeful Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course in his two-year-old season.
McCaffery enjoyed every moment with her horses. After Free House won the 1998 Pacific Classic, she recalled how during ten months off at the farm the Smokester colt blossomed from a three-year-old who just missed winning the Preakness into a top four-year-old.
“You could see him getting stronger and more mature,” McCaffery said. “I love all my horses but there’s something about Free House that just captures me. He’s a very sexy horse, just the way he looks at you.”
McCaffery and Toffan also campaigned Bien Bien, a four-time Grade 1 winner who set a course record for 1 1/4 miles while winning the 1993 Hollywood Turf Handicap (G1) at Hollywood Park.
McCaffery and Toffan are the breeders of 2006 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) winner Round Pond, who is campaigned by Fox Hill Farms. Trainer John Servis purchased Round Pond for $105,000 at the 2003 Keeneland September yearling sale for Fox Hill.
Horses bred by Toffan and McCaffery have displayed outstanding durability. Minister Margaret, a three-time champion imported mare in Puerto Rico, started 65 times and gelding Areyoutalkintome made the 42nd start of his career on January 27.
In 1999, McCaffery founded Kids to the Cup, a charitable corporation dedicated to the attraction, development, and education of young racing fans by bringing them to major events. McCaffery brought a group of Kids to the Cup members with her in ’02 when Came Home won the Santa Anita Derby and Bosque Redondo won the San Bernardino Handicap (G2) on the same card.
McCaffery served on boards of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Oak Tree Racing Association, and National Thoroughbred Racing Association Charities. She also served as a trustee with the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.
In 1992, McCaffery was awarded the NTRA Commissioners Cup for her contributions to the industry. In 2004, she received the Racetrack Industry Program’s Clay Puett Award, recognizing outstanding contributions in the racing industry.
"Her efforts on behalf of the industry, including her wonderful Kids to the Cup program, is equaled perhaps only by her accomplishments as an owner/breeder," said NTRA President Alex Waldrop.
Frank Angst is the Thoroughbred Times senior writer
