Page 151 - June_2023

Trainer John Stinebaugh Scores 1,000th Victory
by John Moorehouse
Dustin Orona Photography
“That’s an accumulation of a lot of really, really good clients and really, really good help. That’s the bottom line.”
John Stinebaugh recently reached a major milestone for a horse trainer, recording his 1,000th victory in a Quarter Horse race. Stinebaugh achieved the feat on April 30 at
Before scoring that 1,000th win, Stinebaugh recalled another recent accomplishment that also stood out to him. At the close of the 2022 campaign, Stinebaugh stood 15th among all
won his first stakes race, the Evangeline Downs Derby, with B Leaving on Dec. 16, 2022.
“Zack keeps up with a lot of the bookwork and all the billing, inputs all that stuff for the
Remington Park when LS Jacks Back prevailed in a featured allowance race on the card.
“That’s an accumulation of a lot of really, really good clients and really, really good help. That’s the bottom line,” Stinebaugh said.
Based out of San Antonio, Texas, Stinebaugh started out working for AQHA Hall of Famer Blane Schvaneveldt. “In the big scheme of things, Blane was my hero,” Stinebaugh said. “Compared to what he did, I’m just a drop in the bucket.”
During his time working with Schvaneveldt, Stinebaugh said he learned “just horsemanship in general. You’ve got to be born with a certain amount of it. I wanted to learn to train horses. That’s why I went back to him, after I quit riding.”
Being part of the horse racing business is an all-consuming endeavor. Stinebaugh stayed so focused on the grind that he wasn’t aware he was close to 1,000 wins until he was notified he was getting close to the milestone.
“It kind of slips up on a guy,” he said, adding, “My first thought was, it took me long enough. Know what I mean?
“Most of my career was spent in split meets,” Stinebaugh added. “I spent the greatest part of my time in Sunland Park and Ruidoso, where they run Thoroughbreds, too. It wasn’t like I had a shot at eight or 10 Quarter Horse races a day. I was only able to run in two or three or four. It took me a little bit longer than I realized, when it was all said and done.”
Quarter Horse trainers in money earned, with $21,079,952 in prize money.
Heading into 2023, only 18 trainers all- time have surpassed the $20 million mark.
“Hundreds, maybe thousands, of trainers after me and before me, and I passed a lot of those guys,” Stinebaugh said. “A lot of them are retired and some are even deceased. To be able to do that, that’s quite a marker for me.”
Another stat that matters to Stinebaugh: the percentage of his starters who finish races in the money.
“It makes me feel like I’m getting the most out of every single horse and putting them in the right place. But when you’re running trials and finals and a few maiden races, it’s hard to keep that up,” Stinebaugh said. “When you
get into a situation that I’m in where you run basically two and three year olds and four year olds, it’s so expensive. I don’t have any claiming horses to speak of and I don’t have a lot of cheap horses. Some end up being there, but they don’t start off that way.”
Stinebaugh shows no signs of slowing down. At the time he connected with Speedhorse
for an interview in mid-May, he had just concluded a busy weekend where his trainees were competing at three tracks in as many states. These days, he’s got some help on the road from his son, Zack, who’s been working with his dad as an assistant trainer since
the start of 2022. Following in his father’s footsteps, Zack also has his trainer’s license and
bookkeeper,” Stinebaugh said. “He stays on the phone a lot with clients and plus he’s out there with me all morning.”
Not that Stinebaugh’s sons, Wyatt and Zack, were strangers to a race track in their formative years...
“They were pretty much raised in the barn or in a truck, going from one place to the next,” Stinebaugh said with a chuckle.
Don’t look for Stinebaugh to step away anytime soon. He still aspires to win “the big one,” the All American Futurity. Stinebaugh arguably came closest to capturing that lucrative race in 2021, with aspiring Triple Crown candidate Champion Jess Savin Candy, who did win the Rainbow Futurity and Ruidoso Futurity that year. Another highlight came in 2012, when Stinebaugh qualified three horses for the All American.
“Maybe one of these days I’ll ring the bell,” Stinebaugh said.
Jess Savin Candy is one of several Grade 1 winners that Stinebaugh has trained through the years. Other standouts with Grade 1 victories include Champion Double Down Special, Hes Limitless, Sure Shot B, Watergirl B, Perrys Double Down, and Cobalt Creek.
LS Jacks Back left little doubt in the milestone-clinching run, going straight to
the front and winning the 330-yard out by 1/2-length. Ricky Ramirez was in the irons as LS Jacks Back finished the race in :16.538, posting a 98 speed index and bringing home a $17,742 for his owner in Lynne Smith’s LS Racing.
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