January 2015 Member of the Month: Glen C. Warren
A longtime TOBA member, Warren appreciates what the organization brings to racing and breeding. He enthused, “Well, I’ve just always wanted a sporting organization that’s good for Thoroughbred racing…so I’ve continued to be very supportive of TOBA.”
His most high-profile victory came when his 84-1 shot Candid Glen won the 2003 Explosive Bid Handicap (gr. IIT) – now the Mervin H. Muniz Jr. Memorial Handicap – at Fair Grounds. TheEl Gran Senor gelding, whom Warren purchased for $67,000 at the 1998 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, won twelve of forty-nine starts and earned $1,285,075.
Since he entered racing, Warren has partnered with only one trainer – Andrew Leggio, Jr., who co-owns some of his horses, including Skip the Pinot. “I’ve never used another trainer,” Warren said. Leggio, he noted, is “an old, experienced hand, been doing it all his life,” adding that he’s very protective of the horses he trains. “He and I can communicate very well together and he’s a good person and very trustworthy,” said Warren.
When not spending time with his family – including his wife Gayle, son Glen Jr., and daughters Mitzi and Brenda – Warren dominates the Louisiana breeding and racing markets. His homebred mare Sarah Lane’s Oates earned $888,296 in 21 wins from 77 starts, en route to being named a Louisiana-bred champion. By 1988 champion turf male Sunshine Forever out of graded stakes-placedGlitzi BJ, Sarah Lane’s Oates has foaled stakes winner Synapse (by Fairbanks ) for Warren.
Sarah Lane’s Oates is also the dam of G.W.’s d’Oro (by Medaglia d’Oro ), who is now a stallion at Clear Creek Stud in Folsom, Louisiana. In addition to G.W.’s D’Oro, Warren owns three other stallions, all of which stand at Clear Creek: Ole Rebel , BJ’s Mark, and GW’s Skippie. He boards his horses at Clear Creek and Trackside Farm in Versailles, Kentucky. “Both of them came on recommendations from horse friends and I’ve just stuck with Clear Creek,” Warren said. “People always say, ‘Do you have a farm?’ and ‘Where’s your farm?’ I don’t want a farm.” Of the people at Trackside, Warren said, “They’re just really nice folks,” and it’s the “same way with Clear Creek Stud.”
Warren regularly achieves success from breeding his own mares to his stallions. Ole Rebel (by Carson City) has produced such homebred successes for his owner as stakes-placed Warren’s Rebel and the promising Jazzy Rebel, who finished second in the Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile Stakes on December 13, 2014, just a few weeks after breaking his maiden. Jazzy Rebel is a full sibling to Hud’s Rebellion, who won the 2013 Louisiana Champion’s Day Turf Stakes. Ole Rebel isn’t Warren’s only stallion star: G.W.’s Skippie (by Skip Away) also sired his 2013 Louisiana Cup Derby winner Skip the Pinot.
Jazzy Rebel and Hud’s Rebellion are also products of Warren’s breeding program. In addition to being by Ole Rebel, they are also tail-female descendants of the aforementioned Glitzi BJ. That classy mare also produced two additional homebred stakes winners for Warren: Glitzi’s Classic (by Sky Classic), who won the 2002 Prelude Stakes and finished second in the 2001 Mississippi Futurity, and Glitzi’s Deputy (by Silver Deputy), winner of the 1997 Mississippi Futurity. Of Glitzi BJ, Warren commented, “I bought her at a sale and she turned out to be a good runner,” adding, “She was our first successful broodmare.”
Warren keeps his operations trim. His racing and breeding stock number no more than 35 in total. He concentrates his breeding efforts in Louisiana because of the state’s breeders’ rewards program, but doesn’t spread himself too thin. “I usually keep six to eight mares in foal each year,” Warren said.
When planning matings, Warren makes the decisions by himself for his Louisiana-based stock, but utilizes the resources at hand for the mares boarded in Kentucky. “I listen to a lot of different people and, of course, I finally make my own decision,” he added. He makes sure to ask himself all the right questions, like “Is this a turf horse? Can they run on the dirt and the turf or which way should we go here?” Warren admitted, “There are just so many factors that, you know, it’s not just like flipping a coin.”
Congratulations to Glen, TOBA’s January member of the month!