Page 84 - Speedhorse September 2017

“I don’t have a hobby and I don’t like to golf, but I love to go to the horse sales!”
ADIOS CALIFORNIA
In 2008, James and Judy moved from California to Glen Ellyn, Illinois, near Chicago. “Judy and I never had any children, but we raised Judy’s sister’s kids and got them through college. We’re kind of like Grandma and Grandpa, but they call us Aunt Judy and Uncle Markum. One lives in Glen Ellyn and one lives in Indianapolis, and we decided we wanted to come here to be around those kids and their kids.”
Since moving, James has continued in his breeding and racing partnerships and has also raced a Thoroughbred at Arlington Park. “I buy horses, sell horses and race some,” he says. “I don’t have a hobby and I don’t like to golf, but I love to go to the horse sales!
“My favorite part of the horse business is raising babies and selling them and horse trading,” James adds. “I love buying a mare and watching her babies, seeing how pretty they are and how they sell at the sales, and then hopefully watching them run.”
Since his move to Illinois, he’s continued in real estate as well, buying and flipping nearly a dozen homes in the area. As with the horses he buys and sells, he loves to create and enjoys seeing the fruits of his work. “It’s fun to see an old house and make it look like new,” he says of flipping houses. “It keeps this old man going.”
He counts his family and the many friendships he’s formed as his life’s success. “I cherish that,” he says. “There are a lot of ways to look at success. I’ve been married to a good woman
for 56 years; I love my nieces and nephews, my sisters and my family; and I’ve been fortunate to make a good living in the real estate business.”
“He’s real outgoing and friendly, and he’s a friend to everybody,” says Fred. “Everybody knows him and he knows everybody. He makes it a point to meet everybody.”
Paul adds, “James has always enjoyed the business of being an owner and a breeder. I trained quite a few horses for him throughout the years, and he’s been a successful businessman, always a straight shooter, and he’s very attentive to whatever he does. He’s sharp and he makes good decisions.”
“I used to really study my lessons,” James concludes. “I’d go to Los Alamitos in the mornings and I’d go at night and just stay on top of things. To make it in horse racing, you’ve just got to tend to business and don’t put your heart in your pocketbook!”
Blushing By, who was Markum’s first stakes winner and the horse he never wanted to sell.
82 SPEEDHORSE, September 2017