by Mark Ratzky, publicity, Cal-Expo
Sacramento, CA — Saturday night’s (Oct. 15) feature at Cal Expo is the Robert Staats Memorial Pace, named for the prominent owner/breeder who passed away in August at the age of 69 at his home in Reno, Nev.
In addition to his wife of 49 years, Loretta, Mr. Staats is survived by his daughter, Debbi; son, Greg; and grandchildren, Ryan and Kaitlyn.
Along with Loretta, Robert Staats was active in the sport beginning in the early 1970s, with Bob Gordon handling the training duties for most of those years. Upon Gordon’s passing, Rick Plano and Bob Johnson conditioned the Staats performers.
Among those outstanding color-bearers have been Stand By N, the brilliant New Zealand-bred racemare and producer; her son, Moxie, a 1:49.3 performer with more than $400,000 in earnings; Nemisis, a sparkling 1:48 winner; the popular mare Reno Rose; Bells To Be Rung; and the stakes-winning BG’s Prodigy, who was named after Bob Gordon.
Stand By N was the horse who put the Staats stable on the map and she was his all-time favorite. The Down Under import had a 1:52 career standard and banked $255,000 in a brilliant career on the racetrack, then went on to be an equally outstanding broodmare. She was inducted in the California Hall of Fame in 2010. Stand By N produced nine foals and they have earned more than $1 million, with her son Moxie retired to stud at the Desomer Farm and becoming a top sire in his own right.
“Bob Staats was one of the top owners and breeders we’ve had in the sport, and was very important to California harness racing,” said racing secretary Fred Kuebler. “He was one of the first to bring horses over from New Zealand, and Stand By N turned out to be a wonderful racemare and then broodmare. He had a great partnership with trainer Bob Gordon that produced some outstanding racehorses over the years.”
Next week will find the harness action expanding to three nights, with Thursday racing being added to the schedule on Oct. 20. Live racing resumes on Friday (Oct. 14) and Saturday (Oct. 15) at 6 p.m. (PDT).