Page 161 - Speedhorse February 2020

THEIR EVOLUTION
Racing first under their names and then as Bella Vista Farms, Fred and Carolyn branched out from racing to breeding. They bought
a farm in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, where the Haveners had moved when it looked like Blue Grass Downs was closing. In 2010, when John and Sherry Havener retired from training, the Haveners stayed on as farm managers and the Helmuths turned to Eddie Lee “Bubba” Willis for their horses’ training.
“When John and Sherry retired, my name got put into the hat for a replacement trainer,” Bubba jokes. “I got the job and it’s been great! I worked for my dad [Eddie Willis] forever
and I’d probably still be working for him if they didn’t get me started. They’re the first ‘big’ people I’ve trained for.”
Fred and Carolyn also continue to race at Indiana Grand Racetrack in Shelbyville, with Randy and Debbie Smith handling the training. “I really enjoy the short 2 1/2-hour trip to watch the horses race there,” Fred says.
In the late 1990s, the Helmuths bought a gelding named Grahams Eye Opener (Mr Eye Opener-Angels Effort, Special Effort). “I always told Fred that a horse will live up to its name and I still believe that,” Sherry says. “He didn’t think that was quite the name he wanted for the horse, so he sent in for another name but he wouldn’t tell anyone what it was until he got the paperwork back. The name came back and it was Eye Am The Best. John said, ‘How’s he
going to live up to that name?’ But he did. He was a really nice horse and so honest a horse.” Eye Am The Best earned multiple Graded
stakes winning status and ended his four-year racing career with eight wins (including the Grade 2 Kansas Futurity), eight seconds and three thirds out of 31 starts, and earnings totaling $104,259. As a 2-year-old in 2000, he won seven of nine races, ranking fourth by wins at year’s end.
When the Haveners decided to move back to Illinois in 2015, the Helmuths sold the farm and moved their horses to Lazy E Ranch. They’ve since bought a farm in Coleman, Oklahoma, where they keep
about 90 percent of their horses,
with a few remaining at Lazy E
Ranch and Belle Mere Farms.
Although they downplay their success by saying
they haven’t won the All American yet, they’ve bred and owned some admirable runners. BV Midnite Express, a 2013 gelding
by Freighttrain B and out
of the Helmuths’ good broodmare Ms Tres Seis, stands at the top of their ranking. The graded stakes winner won his trial and the finals for the Heritage Place Futurity as a 2 year old, ran
“They were taught to help their neighbors, and that when you
do the right thing,
blessings follow.”
– Sherry Havener
Trainer Eddie Lee “Bubba” Willis and Fred Helmuth
Eye Am The Best, trained by John Havener, won the $93,730 Grade 2 Kansas Futurity by a length under the guidance of Denise Lambeth for the Helmuths in 2000