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“John (Stinebaugh) always shares with me about how his horses are running and things like that. I’ve been fortunate that so many great people
share their knowledge with me.”
Trainer John Stinebaugh.
© Susan Bachelor, Speedhorse
“
I have been lucky because he has taught me so much, from the mental development aspect to getting a racehorse ready physically. He taught me how to know a good one and just so many things. It’s a wonderful situation and the girls share everything with their grandparents Keith and “Sis,” and Keith helps them with the barrel horses and things. You just couldn’t ask for a better environment and situation for the girls.
“(Trainer) John Stinebaugh, who sends all his horses here for me to break, has also been instrumental,” she added. “John always shares with me about how his horses are running and things like that. I’ve been fortunate that so many great people share their knowledge with me.”
In the early days of 4C, the family came together to get the ball rolling. “During our
first year of operation, the girls came out and rode for me,” Asmussen said. “They helped a
lot. We’ve done it all together even though my daughters aren’t out here a lot now. They are all busy and they ride barrels. Catherine is married now and has her own business. She teaches riding lessons here in Laredo. The kids are all nuts over her business. It’s great. Our youngest daughter, Christine, attends Texas A&M, and she has done the books for 4C, and she understands all the billing, and the business side.”
Cheryl attributes much of her foundation to her formative roots in the Thoroughbred industry and her years running Jones’ Two Creek Ranch training center. Among the top horses she has worked with on the Thoroughbred side include multi-millionaire Hansel, winner of the 1991 Preakness Stakes-G1 and that year’s Belmont Stakes-G1, and more recently through Keith Asmussen, Eclipse Champion Sprinter Jackie’s Warrior, owned by El Paso’s Kirk and Judy Robison.
“My background in the Thoroughbred industry has been invaluable,” Cheryl said. “The fact that Johnny gave me the opportunity to run his place, and to learn so much during that time with 80 or 90 head a year was very valuable. I ran the place and was basically my own boss. Johnny wasn’t there a lot, but he could come visit and check on things. We had a five-eighths mile training track, a three-quarter mile fiber track, a one-mile turf course, and an eighth-mile indoor jogging track for when the weather was bad. It was an unbelievably beautiful facility.
“And Johnny was a great person to work for,” she added, “and we had so many nice horses. They would ship in from Kentucky, and we were busy all the time. Johnny liked having the ranch in Texas and he loved visiting, which made it all even better and even more special.”
Another horse close to Cheryl’s heart is the Thoroughbred Jackie’s Warrior, the Eclipse Champion Sprinter of 2021. Cheryl rode Jackie’s Warrior for Keith Asmussen.
“I rode Jackie’s Warrior all the time. He was my horse,” Cheryl said with a chuckle. “It is such a blessing to be able to ride a horse like him that has so much heart and wants to run. You just can’t imagine what
a wonderful feeling it is when you breeze a horse like that. Drugs can’t give you the kind of high that horses like Jackie’s Warrior give you. They are awesome. It is just so much fun, and the feeling is exhilarating, especially when you ride one that has so much heart. I had to hold him back all the time and not let him do too much.”
It didn’t take long for Cheryl to get attention from the Quarter Horse world after forming 4C about 10 years ago. Among the graduates of her training program in that
first year (2014-2015) was Tee Chic. Owned by Garza, the son of Jumpn Chic went on to capture the 2015 Oklahoma Futurity-G2 at Remington Park as the race favorite in just his second lifetime start.
Tee Chic winning the Oklahoma Futurity-G2
at Remington Park. © Dustin Orona
130 SPEEDHORSE June 2023