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by Diane Rice
When the Bill Dale-bred gelding The Casanova ran out just $14,000 his fresh- man year in 1997, Bill decided to price him around. “He’d won a race or two and made
a consolation to the Texas Classic, but even though he showed flashes of talent and he could finish a race, he seldom started it well,” Bill explains.
Several buyers expressed interest and
Bill made an agreement with one with the understanding that if the buyer’s trainer didn’t like the horse, Bill would take him back and refund the purchase price. “That’s what happened, and my trainer, John Stinebaugh, was happy,” Bill says. “I wasn’t.”
John promised Bill he wouldn’t regret taking him back, adding, “This horse will win a major derby next year.”
“I thought that was kind of a silly statement for a horse that never made the finals for anything except one consolation, but what
the heck, it’s always good to hear,” Bill said. “The first race he was in after that was one
of the challenge races and he did get into the finals — along with Joanna Kate. John told me he’d win. I said, ‘John, your optimism is great but that’s just foolish.’ But he said, ‘Billy, I’m telling you, drive out; I think he’ll win.’”
But Joanna Kate was a Champion, so Bill and his wife, Janis, drove from their home in Missouri to Eureka, Kansas, to watch the race there, expecting a possible second place.
“We won, which really surprised me,” Bill says, “and I told John, ‘By God, you told me he’d win a major derby this year!’ And he said, ‘Billy, Billy, that isn’t the major derby I’m talking about!’ So, I kind of laughed that off and thought, ‘I’m pretty happy with that, that was a pretty good derby to win!’
“The next step was the Rainbow, and he made the finals and as he always did, he got away bad and ended a pretty close third, but he didn’t win. Then comes the All American and he ends up being the fastest qualifier.
“I’ll never forget, I walked out on the track after he won the All American Derby and I looked at
John and said, ‘Congratulations.’ And John said, ‘Billy, that’s the major derby I was talking about!’”
Bill explains that although John’s eternal optimism sometimes doesn’t pan out the way he’d like, John truly believes what he says
and has never misled him. “There’s nothing more important to me than for someone to be honest, and he has always been honest with me.
“The second thing is, I believe he’s as
good a trainer as there is,” Bill adds. “I always believed Blane Schvaneveldt was number one, hands-down the top trainer in the country, and John learned from him. I believe John probably is just as horse savvy and as good a trainer as there is in the country. So, when you take that combination of being an outstanding trainer and then a man who’s honest with you, it’s pretty hard to find anything better than that.”
HIS EARLY EDUCATION
Born in Greenville, Texas, to Johnny and Lena Mae Stinebaugh, John grew up in the small town 50 miles northeast of Dallas with
1998 Champion 3-Year-Old Gelding The Casanova
50 SPEEDHORSE July 2021
John Stinebaugh
A Really Pretty Good Trainer