SMU's Gerald Ford Saddles Horse for Breeder's Cup

[MrMustang1965]

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - (KRT) - When it came time to choose silks for a racing stable, Jerry Ford paid tribute to his Western heritage.

He used the 1870s Diamond A brand from his New Mexico ranch to create a simple yellow emblem on a blue field.

Those Diamond A silks will be worn Saturday by jockey Jerry Bailey, a Texas native, aboard Pleasantly Perfect in the 21st Breeders' Cup Classic. The race is the capstone of eight championship Breeders' Cup races run for the first time at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie.

Ford's western roots run deep, straight out of the Texas Panhandle town of Pampa, where his father, Coyle, owned an auto body shop.

"I primed and sanded a lot of cars," Ford said. "In high school, I worked on the farm and plowed." Ford is now chairman of the Southern Methodist University Board of Trustees and the First Acceptance Corp. insurance company.
Pleasantly Perfect is trying to repeat as winner of the $4 million classic on America's biggest day of thoroughbred horse racing.

The big brown horse was flown in from Southern California on Monday and took a spin once around the Lone Star oval before sunrise on Tuesday.

"He looks pretty good, He's settling down from the trip," said Ford, who watched the gallop from the track's backside, standing next to his trainer, Richard Mandella,

Ford, 60, who is no relation to the former President Gerald R. Ford, jumped into racing nearly a decade ago after going to a Breeders' Cup and Kentucky Derby. Bitten by the bug, he decided to take his interest further, interviewing several trainers before being introduced to Mandella. The two developed a relationship, he said.

Mandella, who trained winners in four Breeders' Cup races last year - a one-day record - said Ford told him he wanted to "experiment" in the horse business.

"He was straightforward enough to say he would commit a certain amount of money over five years and that if he liked it, he would continue, otherwise he would not," Mandella said. "That approach appealed to me."

Ford, who said he left Pampa "to work in an air-conditioned space," earned a bachelor's degree in economics and then a law degree at SMU. He made his fortune in banking and with Liberte Investors. He ranked 377 on the 2004 "Forbes" list of the world's richest people.

In 1997, he donated $20 million toward the construction of SMU's new stadium, which bears his name.

Ford said he did not expect immediate success in the racing game.

"There is a lot of failure and disappointment." he said.

He purchased Pleasantly Perfect as a yearling in 1999 for $725,000, but the horse had health problems and was a late bloomer. Now, after winning the 2003 Breeders' Cup Classic and this year's $6 million Dubai World Cup, he is perhaps the horse to beat in Saturday's premier race.

"He's like a four-legged Muhammed Ali," Mandella said. "He's got a strong kick and a lot of courage, and right now he is as good as a horse can be."

Jockey Alex Solis, who has ridden many of Ford's winners including Pleasantly Perfect, will not be aboard Saturday. Solis fractured a vertebra in July and has been sidelined until early next year. He will be replaced by Jerry Bailey.

"Throughout the years we have made a great trio," Solis said of riding for Ford and Mandella. "The chemistry working together has brought us some great karma. This is difficult, not to be there."

Ford now has about two dozen horses in training with Mandella and about 20 young ones heading to the track this year. In 2000, he bought 815 acres of the Brookside Farm outside Versaille, Ky., for $11 million.

Six-year-old Pleasantly Perfect has earned more than $7.3 million winning nine of 17 starts. Ford and Mandella are considering running the horse next month in one final race in Japan, before sending him to the breeding shed at Lane's End Farm in Kentucky. If he were to win Saturday and next month, the horse would become the all-time leading money earner in North America.

And, a horse like Pleasantly Perfect could be worth additional millions of dollars at stud, But every time a horse runs, there is a chance of a life-threatening injury on the racetrack, so many owners retire great horses early.

"I am comfortable taking that risk," Ford said. "This has been a thrilling experience to race such a great horse, and there is a sadness in his retiring."

Ford said there are life lessons growing up in a small town like Pampa.

"Particularly if your blessed with great parents and learn the values of hard work, patience and perseverance," Ford said. His father, he said, had worked in the Pampa body shop until he was 88, two years before he died.

"The same values apply in the horse racing business, too, but you also have to have a big dose of luck."

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© 2004, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

[MrMustang1965]

(continued)

And, a horse like Pleasantly Perfect could be worth additional millions of dollars at stud, But every time a horse runs, there is a chance of a life-threatening injury on the racetrack, so many owners retire great horses early.

"I am comfortable taking that risk," Ford said. "This has been a thrilling experience to race such a great horse, and there is a sadness in his retiring."

Ford said there are life lessons growing up in a small town like Pampa.

"Particularly if your blessed with great parents and learn the values of hard work, patience and perseverance," Ford said. His father, he said, had worked in the Pampa body shop until he was 88, two years before he died.

"The same values apply in the horse racing business, too, but you also have to have a big dose of luck."

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© 2004, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.