Page 128 - June 2022

THE BACKSIDE
TAMMY KAY JOHNSON
HOME BASE: Gatesville, Texas YEARS EXPERIENCE: “Oh my gosh,
let’s see. Close to 40 years.”
ASSOCIATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS: “We’ve been very lucky on 870 horses. We’ve had quite a few of them nominated for World Champion.”
HOBBIES: “We do raise Charolais cattle. That’s kind of a hobby.”
Tammy Kay Johnson has gotten some press in recent years for being the first trainer to enter the stable area at Remington Park when meet season comes.
by John Moorehouse
Producing winning, lucrative horses has become a habit for Johnson and her husband Mike Wakefield. Together they run Rockin J Running Horses, which has finished in the top 20 in wins among all Quarter Horse owners
in four straight years from 2017 to 2020. Counting all outside clients as well, as a trainer, Johnson has 187 Quarter Horse victories and more than $3.8 million in earnings heading into the month of May.
Johnson noted that most of the horses in the Rockin J stable are home-bred.
“It is something special,” she said. “Most of our owners we train for, they raise their own. We kind of have an understanding of people who raise their own horses: Uncle Eds Idea that we won the Black Gold [440 Championship Futurity] with a couple of years ago [in 2019, bred and owned by Robert and Stacey Martin]. You understand what it is to have one, to breed, to have it healthy to the racetrack. From Melissa Slayton, we had Born To B Bad. He won the Speedhorse [and the Altoona] Derby.
“We get it, and they get it. It’s easier for
us to all understand what our goals are,” Johnson added. “You’re not just trying to make a racehorse out of that horse. You’re trying
to prove your mare. You want to see them be something. They make your brand.”
Johnson had a quick summary of her training philosophy:
“If a horse runs willingly for you, they’re very hard to outrun. If you can make them love running, it’s a whole different story. That sounds kind of sappy. It sounds sort of like a movie but it’s true.”
As for those early arrivals at Remington Park, it comes down to a matter of logistics. Being there at midnight when the gates open allows Johnson and her husband to transport two full loads of horses to the track in a span of 24 hours.
“Me and my husband, we have two six-horse trailers. We load about six in the evening. We sit here at 12 o’clock midnight, unload those loads, turn around, go back and get another 12,” Johnson
126 SPEEDHORSE June 2022
Tammy Kay Johnson is pictured at Remington Park, June 1, 2019, in Oklahoma City.
Susan Bachelor, Speedhorse Speedhorse