Don Valpredo

The 2025 California Thoroughbred Breeders Association (CTBA) Winter Mixed Sale, which includes a special 22-horse dispersal from the farm of Donald Valpredo, will be held Tuesday, Jan. 21, at Noon PT in the Hines Pavilion at Fairplex, the organization said in a release on Friday. Valpredo, a California industry leader and former President of the CTBA, passed away in November. Handling the consignment will be Checkmate Thoroughbreds. Including the dispersal, there are 143 cataloged and supplemented broodmares, racing prospects, yearlings and 2-year-olds available in a sale that previously produced stakes...

Don Valpredo. a longtime breeder and owner based in California, passed away Oct. 31 while on vacation overseas. He was 85. At one time or another, Valpredo was on the board of virtually every horse racing and breeding organization in California. From Bakersfield, California, he served as the chairman of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association from 2014 to 2016 and served three consecutive one-year terms from 1986 to 1988 and remained on the board of that organization at the time of his passing. Valpredo was inducted into the California Thoroughbred...

Don Valpredo is to Cal-breds what tungsten is to steel. "I absolutely love the training industry and the breeding industry here," said Vapredo, 85, over the phone from Bakersfield. "In fact, I'm sitting here today with the Stallion Register on my lap, trying to find the right mix for my broodmares." When Valpredo hasn't been producing Cal-breds--along with John Harris, he's responsible for 1994 California Horse of the Year, Soviet Problem--he's sought to popularize them through multiple warmed seats on multiple industry boards over multiple decades. They even named a...