Gary Biszantz

Gary Biszantz raced his first horse in 1956, a filly he had acquired for $400 at a sale in Pomona, CA. Trained by Mel Stute at Santa Anita, the filly won the second time she ran and Biszantz was hooked for life.

“My passion for racing started when I was quite young. My father would take me to the races on Saturday afternoons and I got to see some of the great horses and some of the great riders.”

Biszantz, a graduate of Claremont Men’s College, went to work for his father at Biszantz Ford in Glendora, California. Biszantz began his career as a sales representative in 1957 and quickly became general sales manager. In 1969, Biszantz built his own dealership, El Rancho Ford in Poway, California and ran it successfully until the mid-80's when he sold it due to expansion of Cobra Golf, a golf club manufacturing company he co-owned.

As Chairman of the Board of Cobra, Biszantz provided strategic planning and general management services to the company, which grew into the country's second-largest manufacturer of premium-oversized golf clubs. After the sale of Cobra to American Brands in January 1996, Biszantz was finally allowed the opportunity to spend more time with the racing stable he had been building throughout his career at Cobra.

Through 2005, horses owned by Biszantz (some owned in partnership) have made 1,983 starts with 383 wins, 333 seconds and 276 thirds, finishing in the money 50.1% of the time. Graded stakes winners include Old Trieste, Cobra King, Sensation, Admise, Running Flame, Savinio, Caesour, Sekondi, Three Peat, Mayflower Lass, River Rhythm, Turbo Fan, Olanthe, Complot, Just Tops, Lord Grillo and Praviana. Biszantz credits his success to his philosophy woven around quality and winning, believing that you must first have the product, give the horse the chance to show its ability and run it where it has the best opportunity for success.

Biszantz served for four years as Chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) and served on the American Graded Stakes Committee for six years.  In 1999, Biszantz was elected into membership of the Jockey Club.  Mr. Biszantz formerly served on the Board of Directors of the Breeders' Cup and was a past Director of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC).