Page 59 - Speedhorse August 2018
P. 59
”I’ve never known anybody like him before. He’s up
on everything going on in the world and if you want to talk about something, I don’t care if it’s one of the Supreme Court justices, he knows all about it.”
Andreini (far left) was part of the group that purchased Ruidoso Downs Racetrack late last year with Chicho Flores, Johnny Trotter and Stan Sigman.
Horse Racing Highlights
Served a three-year term
as Gov. Schwarzeneggers appointee to California Horse Racing Board beginning in 2006
American Quarter Horse Association director and member of the AQHA Racing Committee and Racing Council
Won AQHAs Gordon Crone Award, recognizing his achievements in the American Quarter Horse industry, in 2008
Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association emeritus director
Syndicate shares in:
Corona Cartel
First Down Dash
Fishers Dash
Mr Jess Perry
One Famous Eagle
Stel Corona
Valiant Hero
Walk Thru Fire
THE RUIDOSO DEAL
In 2017, Heritage Place CEO Jeff Tebow, who also writes farm/ranch and animal mortality insurance for Andreini and Company in the Oklahoma office, told Andreini that Stan Sigman, former president and CEO of AT&T, wanted to see him at his place in Hondo, Texas, about a potential deal.
Andreini agreed to meet with Sigman
and several others, and they asked if he was interested in buying Ruidoso Downs with nine or 10 other people. “I said, ‘Don’t you think I’m a little bit old to be buying a business?’ But by the time an hour and a half or so was over, I decided I was going to do it.”
Later, Andreini was at a convention crossing the street to go to a restaurant with Narciso “Chicho” Flores, who owns the biggest drywall company in Texas. “Chicho is a Mexican immigrant who used to pick fruit,” Andreini says. “This guy is a wonder. I told him I thought it would be a good idea to have a Mexican in the partnership because there are so many Mexicans in the horse business. I said, ‘We’re going to buy a racetrack, are you interested?’ He said, ‘I’m in!’”
When the deal finally sifted out, only four partners remained able and interested: Sigman, Andreini, Flores and Johnny Trotter. The sale finalized in October 2017.
“We’re trying to clean up racing,” Andreini says. “The receipts are up, the handle is up. We have drug dogs that patrol the barns on a
random basis, and the clenbuterol and some of the bad drugs are gone from Ruidoso. Now, the good guys can win a race once in a while. We’re very happy; there’s a different atmosphere now.
“We’ve got people like Lowell Neumayer, who has run the Ruidoso Sales company that we now own, and he has done a wonderful job and is still one of our very good friends. And, we hired Jeff True as the president and general manager, and he’s turned out to be one of the wonders of the universe. He’s an extremely capable administrator.
“We’ve put a new roof on the racetrack at
a cost of $1 million, and fixed the grandstand area. We’re making everything more attractive and have put in a number of new machines at the casino. We’re looking to bring back racing!”
What it all boils down to, Andreini says, is that he wants to be an honest businessman and hold the respect of his peers. And, he wants to provide for his family. “I enjoy my family,” he says. “I’ve got a couple vacation homes and we try to go on vacations.” And, two daughters have inherited his love for the horse business.
“When I die, I just want them to say, ‘He wasn’t a bad guy.’ That’s simple and uncomplicated.” John Andreini
SPEEDHORSE, August 2018 57
