Hoof Dreams
By MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS
RAFU SPORTS EDITOR
Friday, March 28, 2008

Huntington Beach’s Gary Masada shares memories of a life he loved—training and owning horses.

Photos courtesy Gary Masada
Gary Masada, right, poses in the winner’s circle with Iron Traveller, after the filly won a $14,500 purse at Hollywood Park on July 4, 1990.

Masada carefully tapes a horse’s leg. “They’re very
fragile, really, and it takes great care to keep them
free of injury,” he said.

As this Saturday’s Tokyo City Cup at Santa Anita approaches, Gary Masada can’t help but be filled with nostalgia.

“I was always interested in horses, from an early age,” said Masada, 51. “As a toddler, I’d go with my mom and dad to the track and I developed an affinity for horses.”

Now a systems programmer for AT&T, Masada lived a different life a dozen or so years ago, one that involved far less time in front of a screen and more of the scents of turf and thoroughbreds.

“My family was in the florist business,” he explained. “But I used to love visiting barns and paddocks and I had an uncle who owned horses in Colorado.”

Masada was working at the Haru Florist Shop on First Street in Boyle Heights in the mid-70s, when the owners put him in touch with people who could help him open his own business.

In 1977, his family opened the doors of Flowers by Nobee in Sierra Madre–just a few miles from the Santa Anita racetrack.

“We had quite a few trainers and jockey who came in and were regular customers,” he recalled. Among his clients were seven-time Breeders’ Cupwinning jockey Patrick Valenzuela and the late Racing Hall of Fame trainer Charles Whittingham.

“People like these came in all the time and we were able to make connections,” Masada said. One of those connections, trainer Eddie Truman, had a son about the same age as Masada’s boy, Randy.

The youngsters played sports together and the families grew closer. When Masada sold the flower shop in 1988, he decided it was time to parlay the relationships he had cultivated into a career he’d always wanted. He began to work with Truman, learning how to walk, handle and groom horses.

“I started as a ‘hot walker,’ basically taking the horse from their workouts to help them cool down,” he explained. “In that way, I was able to get acclimated, to learn how to handle them.”

It was a grueling schedule. The 4 a.m. starts he was accustomed to,  having been in the flower business. But the work was intense.

“I was responsible for the day-today care of the horses. I had to clean the stalls, feed them, walk them. That’s how I learned what it takes to handle them.”

In 1990, Masada earned his trainers’ license from the California State Racing Board. All trainers must be certified before they can legally saddle a horse.

By that time,  his life at the track had become a family occupation.

Masada’s brother, Keiichi, was more familiar with the handicapping side of the racing business. Two years after having purchased their first horse in 1988, the Masadas, along with partners Junko and Bob Kameoka, pooled their resources and acquired a winner.

Obtained out of a claims race, in which a horse can be purchased by anyone who wants it, the group took ownership of Iron Traveller, who won two races for them in six months. The filly was eventually sold at another claims race for $16,000–resulting in a tidy profit for the Masadas and the Kameokas.

“It was really a family thing,” he said with a fondness in his voice. “Randy basically grew up around horses, learning how to clean and handle them,” he said. “It really was a nice family affair.”

Masada never entered a horse in the Tokyo City Cup, though he said he enjoys taking part in the cultural events and demonstrations that take place at Santa Anita on that day.

In 1995, reality exercised its usual habit of crashing the party. Low on funds, Masada returned to the working world. He said he loved the business, though he doesn’t miss the drudgery.

“You have to be there every day before dawn, you have to worry about the health of the horses. They’re very fragile, really, and it takes great care to keep them free of injury.”

Despite the seriousness of the business and the hard work, Masada’s tone of voice suggested that a large piece of his heart still sits trackside.

“I miss working with a horse, watching it improve and grow, like a child,” he said. “It was dream come true. I always wanted to be around horses and I was able to satisfy that itch.”
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Santa Anita Park will host the 13th annual Tokyo City Cup, in conjunction with TCK Ohi Racetrack, this Saturday, March 29. The annual spring event celebrates a long partnership between two of the premier tracks in the world with a wide variety of cultural exhibitions and travel information on Japan in addition to the $100,000 Grade III Tokyo City Cup horse race, which brings together some of the top thoroughbreds in the nation.

The Japan Family Day, held in conjunction with the Tokyo City Cup, features cultural exhibitions that showcase such Japanese displays as tea ceremony, flower arranging, classical Japanese dance, koto, shodo calligraphy, awadori, karate, kendo, sumo, and a special taiko performance.

There will be various Japanese food booths available (sushi, curry, okonomiyaki), a kids area with pony rides and visitors can take pictures with the world-famous Samurai warriors, who will be in traditional gear and armor at the Soma Nomaoi booth.
Free admission coupons are available by visiting www.tokyocitycup.com.