Page 43 - February 2021

SPEEDLINES
training stable.
When I asked him about how he got into
breeding, he replied, “My dad trained and raised a few of his own, it was something we started doing together at one time.” One of the runners to make it into the Frey Stable was Just Cant Hide It by Make It Anywhere, a 2006 filly that was bred by Darrell and trained by Dean. When Darrell passed away, Dean reflected on his father’s pride in this mare - one of the last runners he bred. “He had a mare that he bred and raced by the name of Just Cant Hide It, who was multiple allowance winner at Los Alamitos. She made him very proud.” She earned $45,231 and was a finalist in the 2010 Sundown Distaff Challenge and in the 2012 Evergreen Park Distaff. Illthinkaboutit by Carters Cartel was a half-sister to Just Cant Hide It that was bred by Darrell Frey and owned
and trained by Dean. She won the 2013 Rocky Mountain Turf Club Classic and the Evergreen Park Distaff Challenge, earning $47,048.
The Frey Stable didn’t limit its runners to Arabians and Quarter Horses. Blame It On Mama was a Paint mare, and Frey recalled the little mare this way. “Dr. (Steve) Burns, and
I raised her. She was a nice little Paint. She won over $54,000 and she was second in the Masterpiece. Then she won the Derby the next year. Steve gave Dusti his half and it was so much fun for me and my daughter and it helped put her through college. It was really
Illthinkaboutit, shown winning the AQHA Evergreen Distaff Challenge, was bred by Darrell and owned/trained by Dean.
The Paint mare Blame It On Mama, shown winning the Pioneer Paint Derby at Los Alamitos, was bred by Dr. Steve Burns and Dean Frey and owned by Dean’s daughter Dusti.
Darrell Frey was a trainer at Portland Meadows in Oregon for several years and then he became a fixture at Los Alamitos beginning in the late 1960’s. He had
214 winners at Los Alamitos. His most successful runner was Ettago Chickie, who earned $534,265 winning the 1980 Skoal Dash For Cash Futurity-G1 and 1980 Kindergarten Futurity-G1.
Frey added, “I was a jockey for about 10 years.” He counts among his mounts The Furies, a stakes winner in such races as the Miss Princess Invitational Handicap, and he was an early rider for The Black Alliance, a major stakes winner that went on to be a two-time Champion Aged Gelding.
“I hauled horses for a while and then
I started training in about 1990. When I started training, I trained Quarter Horses and I had about a 15-horse stable. Bill Smith, an Englishman who was the Arabian racing manager for Darley Stables, offered me a
job training for Sheikh Mohammed and his brothers. When my clients found out I was training Arabians, they took all their horses away from me. But I stayed involved in the Quarter Horse end of it. We raised them and I trained a few of my own and Dan and Anita Simms stayed with me.”
“I trained horses for Sheikh Mohammed for 21 years. It was a good run. They gave me a lot of opportunities that I probably wouldn’t have had with my 15-horse stable. I worked for them all those years and only met Sheikh Mohammed one time. All
my dealings were with Mr. Smith, and he treated me really good.”
Thunder Tiki was one of the first Arabian runners he trained and she finished second in the 1993 Drinkers of Wind Futurity. PS Crystal Sage was a three-time stakes winner of the 1993 California Girls Stakes, 1993 California Futurity and 1994 Sierra Queens Handicap. This mare set a 4 1/2-furlong Track Record at Los Alamitos. Forty All and Dunoire were winners of the Pleasanton Arabian Distaff Stakes. Dunoire was bred by the Darley Stable, but owned by Frey’s daughter Dusti. Bessemer was another Darley Stable-bred horse that was owned by Frey. This horse won the Fresno Golden Queen Distaff Stakes.
The father and son team of Darrel and Dean had not only been trainers, but they were breeders as well. When the Darley Stable cut back on Arabian racing, Frey got back to full time Quarter Horse racing and, as you will see, his role as a breeder made a big impact on his
Darrell Frey
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