Page 80 - May 2018 Speedhorse

BREEDER, OWNER, BARREL
RACE PROMO
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Danny Ray
by Dillon Hamilton
• HOME BASE: Ada, Oklahoma
• YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 27
• JOB TITLES IN THE QUARTER HORSE
INDUSTRY: Breeder, Owner, Barrel Race Promoter, Sales Company Owner, Entrepreneur & Inventor
• HOBBIES: Bowhunting Big game, Fishing & Shooting, and Collecting Pistols
Danny Ray could be called a Master of the Whole Trade. Staring down charging big game in Africa must pale in comparison to
the daunting amount of work and full schedule of a man like him. The once competition archer for PSE (Precision Shooting Equipment), deputy sheriff, emu and goat rancher hung up the bow, turned in his badge, and sold the emus and goats to pursue the thrill of all the Quarter Horse industry offers. His ranch, Victory Farms, a leader in breeding for both race and barrel earnings, continues to produce world-class runners on the track and in the arena.
He has big plans for his Going Big Time Sales Company and its expansion into the barrel market.
As he admits, this is all tough work, but his passion for the industry and his horses manifests itself in all he does. Speedhorse was lucky to contact Mr. Ray and he graciously obliged to express his knowledge and wisdom for all our questions.
Q: When were you introduced into the Quarter Horse industry?
A. Years ago, John Lowder introduced me to owning a racehorse. We partnered to own Stylish Cruiser. I was a deputy sheriff at the time we first ran him and I got the “bug” right then. We ran
him at Ross Meadows in Ada and then sent him
off to the track in Raton, New Mexico, where he
was claimed. Since then, I’ve been involved with horses. I then bought the old Roy Browning Ranch that’s been here in Ada for years. When I bought
the ranch, I didn’t even own a horse. I had goats
and emus. Those went to slipping and I sold them off. A friend of mine suggested that I should get barrel horses because there was nobody breeding and raising them. I bought my first big stallion in On the Money Red, who went on to be a 6-time World Champion sire. From him we got his son Designer Red, made him a World Champion, and he is now one of the top stallions in Brazil. Now we have Eddie Stinson, who is rapidly starting to move to the top of the stallion ladder.
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“I love those mares because it gives me a double shot at both disciplines, using only one mare.”
Q: What is your favorite aspect of your work as a breeder, promoter, and sales company owner?
A. My favorite part is matching a mare and
a stallion, breeding them, delivering the foal, seeing the results of my brainstorm, raising them up, watching them perform, and seeing if they perform to my expectations. That’s what makes the qualifying last weekend in the Remington futurities and derbies so extra sweet to me. I’ve qualified for 29 futurities in the past, but it was with horses I had bought. These three recent qualifiers—one in the derby, one in the futurity, and one of my colts that I sold qualified in the juvenile (and came in second)—those horses I bred, raised, and either kept and ran or sold.
I really enjoy seeing those results. This past weekend a filly that I bred, raised, and trained won the Trans West Futurity at the Lazy E Arena. That’s the best part after my brainstorming and raising them to see them perform and produce, hopefully to my expectations.
Q: What is the least favorite aspect of your work?
A. My least favorite part in racing is the unequal playing field with the drugs. I despise
the unfairness from state to state when running
at different tracks with different rules. We can’t
go run horses that we run at Ruidoso in Texas or Louisiana because they still allow clenbuterol and there’s no way of fair play when you’re running against horses that are allowed to have it. They’re cleaning up the industry, which I applaud, but I wish across the board all AQHA disciplines had the same standards. I don’t care what the rules are, but they need to be the same for positive change.
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SPEEDHORSE, March 2018
Dillon Hamilton
THE BACKSIDE