“It all just happened because my wife, Elise, is very careful about where she goes…especially around horses.”
A veteran living in the Chicago area and a popular local TV news host, Ron Magers knows a good story when he hears one. It was Gulfstream Park in the spring of 1990 when Ron, with his wife, Elise, were making their way out of the parking lot on their way to the airport at the end of the race day. When something shiny in the dirt caught Elise’s eye, she stooped and picked it up to see it as a modest, faux diamond tennis bracelet. During a rushed flight back to Chicago, the couple decided to find out the identity of the owner of the missing bracelet the next day.
“The next morning in Chicago, we closed a real estate transaction,” Magers said. “Elise pulled a pen out of her purse and the bracelet was caught on the clip. We talked to our attorney about the find and he suggested we start by examining it to see if it was real.”
A local jeweler examined the piece and determined that the stones were not only real but also of high quality and worth a bit of money. Ron’s attorney promptly called Gulfstream Park to inform them of the find, and within days, they received a response from a California man whose wife had lost her car. arms while visiting Gulfstream.
“It turned out that the California man who knew the jeweler Lester Lampert of Chicago, [so] we took the bracelet to Lampert, who returned it to the owner in California. The owner offered a reward so we gave him the name of a Chicago charity we support and asked him to send the reward as a donation. “
A story with a happy ending. But, little does the Magers know, his story has only just begun.
“Another attorney, Howard Feinstein, called me [later] said he knew our attorney and had heard about the bangle story. He has also been told about our love of horse racing and that we are thinking of buying a racehorse,” said Mager.
From humble beginnings, a partnership was formed.
“[Howard asked], I have $10,000 that I’m willing to throw out the window hoping to have a little fun and learn about racing? That’s the way he [Howard] approaching things. He also joked that anyone stupid enough to return that bracelet was the kind of person he wanted to take advantage of. [I liked that]Howard was very happy. “
As the two settled into a partnership, Ron’s love for the sport only grew and by the summer of 1991 he was ready to buy a horse of his own.
Magers said: “Trainer Bob Voelkner turned down a number of horses I offered to claim. “He finally agreed to make a claim for a stout Lemhi Go dog running for $16,000.”
Lemhi Go (Lemhi Gold), a 3-year-old mixed-Virginia girl, won the race and had four other claims made for her besides Magers. One winning dice roll later, Ron Magers is now the owner of his own racehorse.
And what horse will she become. Competently racing under the Diamond Stable name, the Lemhi Go claimed GIII Arlington Matron H. and GII La Prevoyante H. wins before retiring with a 41-12-5-6 record and earning over $330,000. la
“When her racing career was over, we sent her to Needham/Betz Farms in Kentucky to be sold as a potential breeder,” recalls Magers. “That choice came at the urging of the longtime rider, Rob Marcocchio, who was in the past business with that ranch.”
Thankfully for Magers, he was excluded from the decision to sell.
“A few weeks later, the ranch owner, Bill Betz, called me to say he didn’t want to see this mare sold. I told him I knew nothing about ranching and wasn’t sure if it was for me. His suggestion was to have the mare appraised, the farm would buy half, and we would be equal partners sharing the risks while I learned about breeding.”
What proved to be a wise choice, Magers kept Lemhi Go and raised her that first year with GISW Gone West. The result was a small film, called Triple Treasure, which sold for $650,000 as a hit. Magers retained Lemhi Go’s second foal, an MGISW Summer Squall pony, before eventually selling Lemhi Go, in the foal to the 3-year-old champion pony and GI Kentucky Derby Unbridled winner. , in the November 1996 Livestock Share Sale in Keeneland for $400,000. That Summer Squall, later known as Temporada, would go on to produce a Kentucky Derby contender in the GII Xpressbet.com Fountain of Youth S. victory over Zulu (Bernardini) in 2016.
Magers said: “Elise and I continued to raise a herd of mares with Needham Betz and other partners for over 25 years. “We’ve had great success along the way, and one of our last adoptions included the chubby 2-year-old Echo Zulu champion (Gunman). “
Echo Zulu Wins GI NetJets Breeders ‘Children’s Cup | Eclipse Sportswire
As Magers prepares to leave the racing and breeding industry after more than thirty years, he can’t help but return to where the whole story began.
“We pulled out of the livestock business in 2019 but, [that up], we acquired three from a partnership from a line sourced from Lemhi Go,” said Magers. “All three raced at Gulfstream Park with coach Ralph Nicks and all three were mid-level winners running in bright coral silk with a black diamond on the back.”
Magers admitted, “It was a fun way to end our career with horses.” He continued, “The diamonds will last forever and so do the stories and memories of racing and ranching for us.”
