Graded Stakes Winning Owners - Eric and Sharon Waller (Stronghold)

Though Eric Waller was 10 years old when he accompanied his father to Santa Anita, he never really felt connected to Thoroughbreds.

His success with Barranca Insurance, which opened in Rancho Cucamonga in 1972 and is now run by his daughters, allowed him to purchase a couple of horses.

“Not Thoroughbreds,” Waller said. “One was a Paint, and one was a Quarter Horse. I wanted horses to ride. I thought that might be fun. It was at that time I realized I did feel something special about horses. I didn’t realize that was inside of me until I bought those horses. I found inner calmness and appreciation for the animal.”

That would be tested after he bought and began breeding Thoroughbreds. His early struggles and then continuing success on the track was tempered by horrible happenings trying to develop a broodmare band. But the Wallers never gave up and they now have a home-bred Kentucky Derby contender, Stronghold, a horse they can proudly point out traces back to four generations of their own Thoroughbreds.

Despite two of their stars dying while giving birth. Despite two mares who savaged their own foals.

Asked how he got through the rough parts, Waller said, “I wish I could tell you. I’m not a quitter. I believe someday, somehow, I’m going to get me a Grade 1 winner. I feel that was my goal. I hadn’t achieved it, so I couldn’t quit.”

Stronghold, who won the Grade 3 Sunland Derby by 2 ¼ lengths in an impressive three-year-old debut, added the Santa Anita Derby April 6th in his final prep for the Kentucky Derby. He is already the Wallers’ highest earner. Stronghold’s dam, Spectator, is second and Stronghold’s third dam, Swiss Diva, is third.

The Wallers’ entrance into Thoroughbred racing was disappointing. “My wife knew a retired jockey,” Waller said. “He had an old mare. She was in foal to a stallion named Lucky Sack. I went ahead and took the mare. I didn’t know anything about racing. I had that foal and decided to race that foal. That was about 1995. Of course, I didn’t have any success. I said, `I’m going to try a different route.’ There was a sale in California, Barretts. There was a mare in there by the name of One Stop. She was by Mr. Leader, in the family of Distorted Humor.”

One Stop is the fourth dam of Stronghold.

One Stop won just one of 19 starts and made $34,985. Waller bred her to Swiss Yodeler. The resulting filly, Swiss Diva, is the third dam of Stronghold.

Swiss Diva won her first three starts, including a $138,000 stakes for California-breds, by 8 ½ lengths, then finished fifth by 4 ½ lengths to superstar Rags to Riches in the Grade 1 Las Virgenes. Swiss Diva finished her 14-race career with four victories, three seconds and earnings of $240,399.

Put into perspective, the Wallers had won just seven of 76 starts from 2002 through 2013.

Envisioning a foundation broodmare, Waller bred Swiss Diva to Henny Hughes. Swiss Diva died foaling Diva’s Tribute. Though unraced, Diva’s Tribute is Stronghold’s second dam. 

Bred to Jimmy Creek, Diva’s Tribute delivered Spectator. She won three of her first four starts, including the Grade 2 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar and was second to Midnight Bisou in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks. Spectator retired with three victories, one second and one third from nine starts with earnings of $323,951.

“Spectator died giving birth to her foal,” Waller said. “A punctured colon. I was just sick. There are just so many lows in this business. There’s nothing lower than losing a horse.”

But the foal who survived was Stronghold. “Stronghold grew up on a nurse mare, just as his mother did,” Waller said.

“The people at Mulholland (Mulholland Springs Farm, where Stronghold spent his early days) told me this horse was a man among boys, a very classy looking individual that shows a lot of quality,” Waller said. “I took that seriously because these people are commercial breeders. They see hundreds of yearlings.”

In April of his two-year-old second, Stronghold was sent to California-based trainer Phil D’Amato, who had a string of horses in Kentucky. “Stronghold cast himself in the stall,” Waller said. “We wound up missing several weeks of training. Then, finally, things returned to normal.”

Stronghold finished second and first in a pair of maiden races at Ellis Park and Churchill Downs, then finished second in the Grade 2 Bob Hope Stakes to undefeated Nysos at Del Mar. He was second again by a half-length to Wynstock in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity.

Stronghold’s handy victory in his three-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Sunland Derby sent him soaring up the list of Kentucky Derby contenders. His sensational :58 2/5 work should have him moving forward as he tackles tougher opponents.

If all this is exciting, Stronghold doesn’t seem to notice. “He’s so quiet in the paddock, Phil thinks he’s sleeping,” Waller said. “He doesn’t turn a hair.”

Gamely bulling his way through horses, Stronghold won the Santa Anita Derby by a neck, giving Waller his ultimate goal, the one he stuck to despite all the heartache. “The Santa Anita Derby was our first Grade 1,” Waller said. “That’s why I’m in the business. It’s not about the money anymore, it’s about the achievement.”

And his determination. Achievement can’t happen if you give up.