Tulsa World: Promising horse is on the rise

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Promising horse is on the rise

By RICHARD LINIHAN Horse Racing
Published: 10/24/2009 2:25 AM
Last Modified: 10/24/2009 5:51 AM

TULSA HORSE owner John Wieczorek is a huge fan of Polish-born novelist Joseph Conrad.

That is why Wieczorek and his wife Ann named one of their best horses Bhangalou Ruby.

"It was the name of a mine in one of his books," he said.

Conrad, an adventure writer, is considered one of the greatest English authors ever despite the fact that he could not speak fluent English until he was in his 20s. Apparently Wieczorek had a similar problem.

"When I went to Utah State, my fraternity brothers would go around and ask us to identify ourselves to the sorority sisters at functions and they would always want me to introduce myself twice," he said. "Apparently they got a big kick out of hearing my Oklahoma accent. It took me only about two weeks after that to lose the accent."

What he hasn't lost is his love for Tulsa. He is the President of Avalon Exploration Inc., an independent oil and gas exploration company founded in Tulsa in 1982.

"Ann's father was an equine veterinarian and I took horse husbandry in college and my mother's side of the family lived on farms, so it was natural for us to be attracted to horse racing," he said.

His vocation allowed him the luxury of investing in horses and, up until this year, only a couple have panned out for them.

"We (as Tulsa horse owners) have had to live vicariously through the Warrens and the Oxleys," he said with a laugh.

Now, however, they have two or three horses that could develop into the kind of horses that put the Warrens and the Oxleys on the racing map.

On Oct. 15, a 3-year-old filly, Bhangalou Ruby won for the second time in only three career starts for them at Keeneland in Kentucky. She won wire-to-wire in a 6-furlongs race with one of the country's best jockeys, Julien Leparoux, aboard. She earned $25,620 for the victory and may be on her way to a stakes race in her next start.

"(Trainer) Eddie (Kenneally) is not sure what we're going to do next with her," said John. "Probably ease her into a stakes race somewhere. Her personality is a little "

Wired?

"Yeah, she's one of these horses that her eyes are about six inches across each when she comes to the track," he said. "Let's put it this way, someone else besides me will be leading her to the winner's circle. She can be a little scary."

If this Tulsa couple has the kind of luck with Kenneally that other owners have had, you might be reading about them soon on a world-wide level. The trainer conditioned one of the world's greatest sprinters a few years ago named Kelly's Landing. That horse won the Golden Shaheen sprint race in Dubai which was a seven-figure purse.

Avalon Farms, owned by the Wieczoreks, 480 acres in Verdigris and 125 acres in Midway, Ky., is the listed owner of Bhangalou Ruby and another 3-year-old horse named Custom for Carlos, who has already won a Grade 3 stakes race, the Jersey Shore at Monmouth this summer. Custom for Carlos is co-owned by the Wieczoreks with a gentleman named Ron Rashinski.

"We had run into a dry spell with our horses and had seen that three of the four horses he had purchased had become stakes winners," said John. "So we asked him if he'd like to buy this horse with us."

It worked as Custom for Carlos has already won a stakes race and put up the second-highest Andy Beyer Speed figure of any sprinter in the country this year when he ran second in a stakes race at Philadelphia Park.

"You fantasize when you first get into horse racing that you want to win the Kentucky Derby," said Wieczorek. "But after you've been in it awhile, you become more realistic. With this horse, we really think he has a chance to go to Dubai next spring or maybe even be in the Breeders' Cup Sprint next year at Churchill Downs."

Sounds like quite an adventure, just like the ones Conrad used to write about.

Richard Linihan is marketing director for Fair Meadows in Tulsa. By RICHARD LINIHAN Horse Racing

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