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RANDALL DEE HUBBARD
June 13, 1935–April 29, 2020
Speedhorse extends our deepest sympathies to the family of R.D. Hubbard
The horse industry was saddened by the passing of R.D. Hubbard on April 29 at the age of 84. R.D. was born in Smith Center, Kansas, the youngest of eight children. At age 11, he worked as an ice delivery boy, and later worked in wheat fields across the Midwest. Hubbard played basketball in high school and attended Butler Community College, becoming a teacher and basketball coach after graduation. At 23 in 1959, he became a glass salesman and then general manager of Safelite AutoGlass, and in 1968 became the president of Safelite Industries. In 1978, he purchased two small glass companies near bankruptcy to form AFG Industries, which he sold in 1992 after making it the second largest glass manufacturer in the U.S. and a Fortune 500 Company.
It was during his early years that Hubbard became interested in racing Quarter Horses. He partnered on three Quarter Horses, made
a profit from their sale, and eventually co- owned quite a few show horses which he sold to buy quality Quarter Horse race horses. He co-founded the Red Bee Ranch, and when the ranch stock was sold in 1970, it was the highest grossing Quarter Horse dispersal sale.
In 1980, Hubbard bought Crystal Springs Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, which in 2007 he moved to Tularosa, New Mexico. R.D. Hubbard and Dr. Ed Allred purchased Ruidoso Downs in 1988. Hubbard became the sole owner of the premier track until he sold the facility in 2017. In 2003
Hubbard headed a group that was awarded the license to build Zia Park in Hobbs, New Mexico. R.D. Hubbard is the breeder of more than
$4.7 million in Quarter Horse money earners and is the sole owner of over $2 million in Quarter Horse runners, with an additional $12 million in money earned by the many partnerships in which he has been involved. He is also the owner of nearly $6.5 million in Thoroughbred runners.
Among the top Quarter Horse runners he is connected with either as a breeder and/or owner are 16 Champions: A Revenant, Brenda Beautiful, Call Caleb, Denim N Diamonds, Feature Mr Bojangles, Hes Relentless, Hotstepper, Ketel Won, Make Mine Bud, My Dashing Lady, Noconi, Prissy Fein, Quick Fun, Sixy Chick, Stoli, and World Champion Super Sound Charge.
R.D. Hubbard was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2009. He has received the AQHA Racing Council Lifetime Achievement Award, AQHA Gordon Crone Special Achievement Award, Jockey’s Guild Merit Award, 2014 Horatio Alger Award, 1992 California Equine Retirement Foundation Award of Merit, 2007 John W. Galbreath Award, and was the 2000 National Thoroughbred Racing Association Man of the Year.
R.D. Hubbard is survived by his wife, Joan Dale McLain Hubbard, children Derrol, Brett and Shana, and four grandchildren. A daughter preceded him in death.
Among his other accolades:
• Chairman, R.D. Hubbard Enterprises
• Founded, Hubbard Museum of the American West
• AQHA Racing Committee
• AQHA Racing Council
• Co-founder, National Thoroughbred Racing Association
• Member, NTRA Board of Directors
• Co-founder, NTRA Racing Integrity and Drug Testing Task Force
• 1986, founded R.D. and Joan Dale Hubbard Foundation
• 1986, built & operated The Woodlands Racetrack
• 1991,NewMexicoGovernor’sAwardfor Excellence & Achievements in the Arts
• 1991, purchased Hollywood Park
• 1994, purchased Turf Paradise
• 1996, founding member,
Bighorn Golf Club
• 1997, Financial World Magazine
CEO of the Year
• 1998, Glass Industry Phoenix Award
• 2003, headed group to build Zia Park
80 SPEEDHORSE May 2020