For Buyers of Up, Aftercare Priority #1

By Lucas Marquardt 

Ten years ago, Jan Vandebos considered herself an outsider when it came to horses. She had ridden a few times and liked them enough, but that was about it. But a decision to learn the ins and outs of riding and horsemanship–spurred after meeting her future husband Bob Naify, a longtime owner and breeder–changed everything. 

Now, Vandebos is a headlong enthusiast of all things equine. She operates the California-based RanJan Racing with Naify, and last week made headlines by landing Keeneland January’s $2.2 million topper Up (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who sold in foal to War Front. Vandebos also rides jumpers and does dressage, and with a background in journalism, writes for Thoroughbred trade publications and websites in California. 

Perhaps most impressive, though, is that Vandebos has built herself into a one-woman retirement program who has re-trained about 30 horses from her and Naify’s operation for second careers. And that, said Vandebos, has indeed changed everything. 

“I developed a love of horses late in life, and it’s been a great gift for me,” said the 56-year-old. “It’s great that we got a fancy mare and we’ll love her [Up] to death, but we love all of our horses whether they were good or not. They’re all special.” 

For Vandebos, that’s not just feel-good fluff said for effect. She and Naify have put significant time and resources into making sure their horses are cared for well after their racing careers are over. And because Vandebos and Naify have strict guidelines for themselves, some of those careers don’t last long. 

“If we don’t think our horses are going to be stakes horses, we basically retire them,” she explained. “We don’t run horses in claiming races.” 

That, in turn, means a lot of horses coming off the track, even for a boutique breeding operation like theirs. 
Of the 30 horses she’s retrained, many by standout sires like A.P. Indy and Giant’s Causeway, she’s found “forever homes” for about half of them. The other half, some with injuries that preclude second careers, are kept at Vandebos and Naify’s Springtime Farm, an operation located in the Santa Ynez Valley the couple bought so Vandebos could do the work herself. 

Vandebos is the only person on the farm who rides the horses, and climbs aboard four or five each day. The re-training process can take up to eight months for the average horse, and can take much longer for those with injuries. 

“We really do re-break them,” said Vandebos. “And we do it in a very genteel, kind way. We have a program where they are handwalked, then long-lined or lunged, and then ridden. They get about three hours of turnout, plus we have a vibrating plate, so if they have any injuries coming off the track, that helps with both tendon and bone problems.” 

Vandebos still has the first horse she ever retired off the track, the now 16-year-old Mackelwane. By Bertrando–who was campaigned by Naify’s brother Marshall–Mackelwane wasn’t able to find the winner’s circle in five trips to the post, but has become “my best hunter/jumper,” said Vandebos. 

Other favorites include the 8-year-old Crazy as a Fox (Whywhywhy). “We bred him, and I helped deliver him,” Vandebos. “He stands at 17.1 [hands], weighs 1450 pounds, and I’ve rehabbed three times from Lymphingitis.” 

Diorella, a full-sister to Mackelwane, suffered a fractured skull in a freak accident before she ever even made a start, and is another Vandebos helped nurture back to health. 

Not all the horses have to overcome such odds, of course, and of those who retired sound, many are now show horses, while several others amateur polo ponies for teams at Stanford University and Cal Poly. 

Naturally, one doesn’t learn how to train horses overnight, and it took a while before Vandebos felt comfortable handling the job herself. 

“When I started riding, and we started taking home horses off the track, I learned from a lot of great people,” she explained. “It took about four years before I started doing it on my own. I don’t have a lot of fear, and I believe it’s because I learned late in life and I learned with these horses while they were growing up. These were horses that Bob and I bred together. I really nurtured them since they were babies and have a bond with them. It probably isn’t too smart on my behalf, and I suffered my first injury this year, but I have such a good time with them.” 

It’s a future Vandebos couldn’t have foreseen for herself growing up in Santa Barbara, California. A communications major who minored in journalism, Vandebos graduated UCLA, then headed up the coast to San Francisco where she worked for TCI Media, a cable-television group. Unbeknownst to Vandebos, her future husband sat on the board of the company. 

“When we met, we started talking about interconnects and cable systems,” she laughed. 

Vandebos was working for the Fang family, who owned the San Francisco Independent and Examiner, when she left 10 years ago to start her own small publishing house. She authored a few books and wrote articles for trade dailys in California. “It’s mostly equine-related work now,” she said. “I’ll do some things for the CTBA, and I try to help when it comes to giving funds and time to certain equine charitable organizations.” 

One of the horses that made Vandebos really fall in love with Thoroughbred racing was Cambiocorsa (Avenue of Flags). Owned in partnership by RanJan with Leatherman Racing, Cambiocorsa was nearly unbeatable on Santa Anita’s downhill course. She won a pair of graded stakes and three other black-type events, and banked over $500,000. 

Vandebos and Naify bought out their partners when it came time to send Cambiocorsa to the breeding shed, and the now 15-year-old has rewarded their faith. Three of her first four foals are stakes winners and the fourth is a Grade I performer. The first foal was the Grade II winner Schiaparelli (Ghostzapper), followed by the Grade I-placed Vionnet (Street Sense), the Grade II winner Moulin de Mougin (Curlin), and last year’s 3-year-old SW Alexis Tangier (Tiznow). Both Moulin de Mougin and Alexis Tangier are on holiday at present, but are set to rejoin trainer Richard Mandella in the coming weeks. 

That Cambiocorsa’s first four foals were all fillies has ensured a strong broodmare band for RanJan for years to come. 

“We love ‘Cambi,’ and our goal was to have four or five really terrific mares, which we now have in her daughters,” said Vandebos. 

RanJan has most of its horses with Mandella, but also has a few with trainer Mike Puype. 

“We like both of them very much and have good relationships with them,” said Vandebos. “Richard’s a great guy, and he always does the right thing for horses and owners. If a horse doesn’t have it, he’s always very honest and tells us right away. He doesn’t waste a lot of time, and he understands breeding and breeding programs, which is great.” 

RanJan currently has nine horses in training, including five 3-year-olds. 

While the primary focus has been breeding to race, RanJan will expand its role as a commercial seller, said Vandebos. 

“We won’t ever sell ‘Cambi’ or her daughters–we love them too much–but we will probably sell some of their offspring as yearlings,” she said. 

That’s a gameplan that includes Up, the Classic–placed half-sister to Dutch Art (GB) who was acquired at January through advisor Frank Taylor of Taylor Made Farm. “Up is the first mare we bought since buying a Danehill mare privately about 7 or 8 years ago,” Vandebos explained. “We don’t typically buy–we breed–but we had looked for a Galileo [mare] for a few years. Frank brought this mare to us, and I just couldn’t resist it. I really didn’t think I’d go that high, but I loved her in the ring, I loved her page, I loved her walk. I fell in love with her and Bob agreed, and we decided to buy her and add her to the band.” 

For his part, Taylor said it’s been a pleasure working with the RanJan partnership. “Bob and Jan are ideal owners because they know their horses and understand the business very well,” he said. “Jan is a great horsewomen, and Bob is great businessman. They make a great team. Their horses well-being is always the primary concern.” 

Up will board at Taylor Made in Kentucky, along with Cambiocorsa and her daughters Schiaparelli and Vionnet, who are now both retired. “We’ll keep all our commercial mares in Kentucky,” said Vandebos. 

There are, she laughed, some other, less commercial mares in Kentucky, too. “We have seven open mares at Taylor Made, mostly between 13 and 16,” she said. “If their progeny did something we’d possibly breed those, but most of those will just live out their lives there. People say that we have to let these mares go, but as long as we’re breaking even, we’re happy. Hopefully, the new mares will offset the cost of the old ones. I know it’s a little strange, but it works for us.” 

Vandebos views mare retirement through the same lens as racehorse retirement, and while she readily admits that her and Naify are in a financial position many breeders don’t enjoy, she’s adamant that if racing hopes to remain relevant, aftercare will have to be a priority. And that, she says, starts with the sports’ principals. 

“If we’re going to get new fans on board, we’re going to have to make a lot of changes with how we treat the horses when they’re done racing,” she said. “We need aftercare funds to be taken not just from purses, but from breeders and trainers and jockeys and owners. Everyone who makes money on horses needs to step up to the plate and put money into the aftercare program. 

“I came to this late, but have seen a lot of bad cases at the track, and have seen a lot of horses that were discarded when they were done racing–and that stuck with me greatly. Bob and I together vowed that all these horses deserve a second chance. Fortunately, we can afford to do it. But I just don’t believe in dumping older horses. I don’t believe in dumping older mares. As more owners find out what can happen to these horses when they leave the track and get re-trained, I think people want to do the right thing. I think more breeders and owners are taking responsibility, and that’s great to see. I think a lot of people don’t mind spending a little bit of money to do that if they know the horses are going to good homes. We all want what’s best for the horse.”