Page 66 - Speedhorse December 2019

In the ’50s and ’60s, Jim founded Walker Sand and Gravel. “Jim started several major businesses from the ground and built them up into multi-million- dollar companies,” - Monty Arrossa.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
Jim was born in 1932 to Willard and Jewel Walker in Casa Grande, Arizona, and the family later moved to Esparto in north-central California.
Growing up, Jim’s family had horses, but he wasn’t satisfied to ride everyone else’s horse; he wanted his very own. So, he says, “I worked and saved every penny and nickel and dime in the world until I had enough where I could buy my very first horse.” That was at age 8 while living about 90 miles northeast of Sacramento in Grass Valley, and the horse’s name was Captain.
Jim attended grammar and high school in Grass Valley, near Nevada City, a well-known mining area up through World War II. It was there that he met JoAn, two years his junior, who would later become his wife and his greatest supporter.
After high school, Jim served in the Army, then studied business at Sacramento State University.
After they married, Jim and JoAn had three children: sons Jim Jr. and Jerry, and daughter Jeana, in the ’50s and ’60s, during which time Jim founded Walker Sand and Gravel. “Jim started several major businesses from the ground and built them up into multi-million-dollar companies,” Monty says.
In the early ’70s, the family moved to Ketchum, Idaho, near the Sun Valley ski area, then in the mid-70s, to their present location, Walker Farms in Bellevue, in Idaho’s Wood River Valley.
Although Jim and JoAn have experienced some great highs in horse racing, they’ve also experienced unimaginable personal tragedy when their son Jerry died in a skiing accident in 2014 leaving behind his son, Kyle; and their daughter, Jeana, died in a car accident three years later, leaving behind her son, Christopher.
In 2017, Jim retired and passed the materials business on to his son, Jim Jr., who along with his wife, Kathy, had one son, Bradley, who blessed the elder Walkers with two great-grandsons within the past few years. “They’re the cutest kids in the world,” Jim says with pride.
A Glimpse at Jim
Jim’s racehorse breeding business came as
a natural offshoot of his highly competitive nature, as did his career as a contractor vying for contracts to build dams, roads, airports and other large-scale projects.
Although he loves the thrill of racing, he’s equally enamored with raising the babies, seeing them grow up, and then evaluating his breeding selections. “I got a beautiful colt out of the horse I’m breeding to this year, Moonin The Eagle [bred by Vessels Stallion Farm],” he says.
“Jim was onto Moonin The Eagle before I even paid much attention to him,” Monty says. “He was telling me all about the horse: ‘Do you know this horse and his breeding and what he’s done and his conformation?’ he asked me. Jim breeds to him and then, Boom!, he goes to the sale and the horse
sells for $2.1 million. I called him up and asked if he was going to say, ‘I told you so,’
but he said, ‘No, I’m not going to tell you that. I just can’t wait to see what he produces.’”
Jim’s response is typical. “He’s very
supportive to me emotionally,” Monty continues. “If I’ve had a bad weekend at the races, he’ll call me up and tell me, ‘Hang
in there; it’s okay, you had a rough night at trials last night, but tomorrow’s going to be better.’ Then he’ll ask me, ‘What did you learn, what could you do better, and what do you have to do to improve?’ He’s been that way as long as I’ve known him.”
Monty, 47, has known Jim his entire
life and sees him as a mentor and the older brother he never had. Monty’s father, Pete Arrossa, drove chariot horses for Jim. In fact, Jim was responsible for Monty’s first stint as a chariot racer – which resulted in a win for the teenaged newbie driver embarking on
his dream journey to training the teams that won not one, but two Chariot Racing World Championships, in 2000 and 2001.
“Jim’s always looking ahead,” Monty adds. “He’s the most positive person I know. He doesn’t dwell on the past; he asks what he can learn from any setback and moves forward. Like all of us in the business, he doesn’t like to lose, but he’ll say, ‘Well, that didn’t work, let’s make a change and go forward and do better the next time. We’re not going to get anywhere looking backwards.’”
SOME STANDOUT STEEDS
Jim’s forward-thinking approach has led to many successes over the years. Among his most notable homebreds, in addition to Zoomin For Spuds, are:
BUX FOR COCKTAIL
— A full sister to Zoomin For Spuds, the
2009 mare achieved multiple stakes winning status with seven wins, one second and one third from 10 starts. She earned $50,258 in two years on the track, ranking 57th by wins
in 2011. Her wins included the Intermountain Futurity at Elko in 2011 followed in 2012 by the Jerome [Idaho] Tell Him Twice Derby Trial and the Les Bois Derby Challenge in Boise. Unfortunately, she got an abscess that turned into laminitis and had to be put down.
62 SPEEDHORSE, December 2019
Jim with his wife JoAn