Shortleaf Stable's John Ed Anthony has a new rising star on his hands with Caddo River, a 10 1/4-length winner of the Jan. 22 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park for trainer Brad Cox. A member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and a native of the state, Anthony campaigned champions Temperence Hill, Vanlandingham, and Prairie Bayou under the Loblolly Stable banner with his former wife. He formed Shortleaf after the Loblolly horses were dispersed in the '90s and in recent years has campaigned graded stakes winners Benner Island, Plainsman, and Trace Creek. According to Cox, Caddo River is likely to return in the March 13 Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn.
Anthony spoke with BloodHorse MarketWatch about Caddo River, his homebred program, and what has kept him in racing through the years.
MarketWatch: Caddo River was a runaway winner of the Smarty Jones. What did you think of his performance?
John Ed Anthony: I was impressed, of course, and he did the same thing at Churchill when he broke his maiden. He was promising to begin with. He was second in Saratoga to begin with and then at Belmont he ran second after taking the lead briefly. Naturally, front-running horses are a little scary. Most of the horses that Loblolly and Shortleaf have had have been off-the-pace types, but I guess Brad has him where he wants him so we'll see what happens.
MW: Being from Hot Springs, what does it mean to win a race like the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park?
JA: Oaklawn is our home turf and we focus on racing in Arkansas at Oaklawn every year. 2021 is the 50th year of my ownership of Thoroughbreds. I bought my first horses in 1971.
I don't think we've ever won the Smarty Jones before. It's not a new race, but it's not one of the old standbys. We've had good luck in the Southwest and the Rebel, particularly, and the (Arkansas) Derby over the years. It's great fun. When we race here—we're in the forest products business and have lumber mills and timberland—the employees of the plants and the citizens of South Arkansas are all excited about the hometown horses. Caddo River is a South Arkansas stream, so fortunately it turned out to be a pretty good name for what turned out to be a pretty good horse.
MW: He's a homebred for you. What was he like growing up?
JA: He was foaled at Stone Farm. Arthur (Hancock) and his staff are great friends and have been for many, many years. They kept us informed and I fly over and visit the farm—or I did before current events kind of limited travel. He was beautiful—well, all little horses are beautiful—and he was one of the picks of the litter I think from the very beginning. He did all the things right. But looks don't always carry forward into racing success and you only know who the good ones are whenever they demonstrate it.
MW: He's out of Pangburn who was a stakes winner and multiple graded placed for you. What kind of horses has she produced so far?
JA: She was a modest stakes-winning filly. She'd won a stake at Laurel. This is her second foal. Her first foal was a Bodemeister filly who was a winner but not a good horse and Caddo River is her second foal. She has an Into Mischief filly that's 2 just in the process of beginning her training, and a Nyquist colt that's quite nice, and she's back in foal to Hard Spun (the sire of Caddo River) and booked to Hard Spun for next year.
MW: You've campaigned horses like Temperence Hill and Prairie Bayou. What has kept you in the game all these years?
JA: That's a difficult question to answer. I guess it gets in your blood. We had a good run, particularly through the '70s and '80s into the '90s. After Prairie Bayou and the disaster that occurred with him at the Belmont when he just suddenly broke his leg, after having never raced on medication and never having shown any sign of unsoundness, going down the backstretch of the Belmont, watching him in my binoculars at the time, suddenly I saw Mike Smith bounce off of him and him pulled up. His break was called compound with bones shattered throughout. It was impossible to save. I argued with the vets, but they were adamant that it was impossible for him to be saved and so we had to put him down. Once you get into the business and you get a broodmare band and yearlings and other racehorses, you can't just quit, but it did take some of the enthusiasm out for a few years.
My son, Ed Anthony, who is an ardent fan of racing and a pedigree analyst in the extreme who has worked for Bill Oppenheim for years, was a pedigree expert for Three Chimneys for years, he is my right hand man and works the pedigree game fully. He's a major asset to our stable.
John Gasper helps manage our stable and John has extensive experience throughout Kentucky and is a real asset to our stable management. With all the help, and my family, my other son who has had racehorses and is enthusiastic, and my grandsons are enthusiastic, it's hard not to be enthusiastic and stay in the game when the family is as excited about it as I am.
We kind of let up between mid-90s and 2010, but decided to go back to war and begin buying yearlings and fillies and creating a broodmare band. Now most of our stock comes from our broodmares, are homebreds. Most of them are at Stone Farm, but McDowell Farm in Arkansas also stands one of our stallions (Double Irish), a Tapit colt, and we raise some Arkansas-breds to race here in Arkansas as well. Bill McDowell of McDowell Farm and Stone Farm are major assets to our program as well. It's easy when you have a lot of support and help.
MW: How many broodmares do you have now?
JA: We've got about 20. Fifteen or so in Kentucky and four or five in Arkansas.
MW: And what about racehorses in training currently?
JA: We have about 20 in training, with Johnny Ortiz some and Brad Cox, and Jimmy Jerkens has got a couple.
MW: Oaklawn has expanded in recent years and they've had a growth in purses. What has it meant to be a part of this program and have it close to home?
JA: For many, many years it was an overlooked track. But Oaklawn, in my opinion, has always been for 50 years the best place to winter in America. The weather is temperate throughout the springtime. It's a beautiful location, spring begins to blossom here in February, and it's just a really swell place to be for horses. Good water, good clean water. Hot Springs is famous for its pure mineral water. Clean air. It's a great place to be with young horses in the springtime. We tried California and Florida and we've always found Hot Springs to be the best spot to be.
MW: Anything else you would like to add or anyone you want to mention that you've worked with?
JA: There's so many people. Doc (Gary) Lavin was my confidant and dear friend in racing with his Longfield Farm in Kentucky for many, many years. He taught me more about racing than anybody I imagine could have done so. He's living in Louisville now and he's retired, but he's still a major asset and I speak to him regularly and we share thoughts about the stable. I've had some good relations with a lot of awful good people that are too numerous to mention right now.
