Central Oregonian

Win, place, or Sho

Craig Woodward and Jack Rhoden are co-owners of Johnny Show

LON AUSTIN/CENTRAL OREGONIAN

Crooked River Roundup Grand Marshall Craig Woodward rides into the Crook County Fairgrounds arena with his retired thoroughbred race horse Johnny Show.

Lon Austin

July 13, 2010

Horse racing seems to be in their blood.

When the Crooked River Roundup Horse Races kick off tonight, you can bet that both the Rhoden and Woodward families are going to be there.

The two Prineville families’ involvement in racing goes back more than 50 years, and they show no signs of stopping now.

“Dad’s sister (Doris Merrill), was one of the leading trainers on the West Coast from the mid 1960s until she passed away,” said Craig Woodward, this year’s Roundup Grand Marshall. “In those days a woman trainer was a little unusual. She was well respected and known as being a really good trainer.”

Merrill trained horses on all the major tracks up and down the coast, from Longacres in Washington to Portland Meadows in Oregon, and Hollywood Park in California.

“As a result of that I started watching horse races in 62 or 3 somewhere along in there,” Woodward said. “My dad (Ben Woodward) was a racehorse fan or observer and we both became thoroughbred owners off and on. My dad beginning in the late 60s, and me in the 70s and 80s.”

Woodward quit racing horses after his dad passed away.

“I had different interests,” He said. “And it’s kind of an expensive hobby.

However, Woodward continued to watch horse racing.

Then, in 2002, Woodward suddenly found himself back in horse racing.

“My cousins Val Rhoden, and Nancy Barney (Merrill’s daughters), grew up on a racetrack because of their mother,” Woodward said. “Val was working at the race tracks in California and she called me and said that she had found a horse that would be really good to own. I told Val that I really wasn’t interested but I told her that I would call Jack Rhoden and if he was interested we would buy the horse.”

As a result Val Rhoden, Jack Rhoden, and Woodward went together and claimed the horse at a claiming race.

“There were three claims on him because he really was a good horse,” Woodward said. “When there is more than one claim you have to roll the dice to see who gets him. I wasn’t even there and Val won the dice roll so we ended up owning the horse. She always said it must have been destiny.”

The horse, named Johnny Show won eight races that year in California and was named California Horse of the Year.

“That’s a big feather in our cap,” Woodward said. “It wasn’t something that I did, but there are owners that try their whole lives to get that kind of honor. We retired him the next year and I brought him home and now one of my grandsons uses him for a saddle horse, but he has a pretty good life and doesn’t get ridden that much.”

Woodward added that Johnny Show hadn’t been that successful before they purchased him.

“He was just coming into his own,” he said. “We experimented with him on different track surfaces and he loved running in the mud. He was one of those horses that came out of the gates and paced himself. Nearly every race he ran dead last. When they would come around the turn to come home he would just start passing horses. He had that burst of speed for the last eighth of a mile of his race. He was kind of a sensational winner and the fans loved him. You couldn’t make much money betting on him because he always went off as the favorite. It was a real source of pride to say that you owned the horse.”

Woodward doesn’t know if he will ever own another race horse or not.

“If I get where I can afford it I might,” he said. “I’d a lot rather own a $100,000 race horse than a condo that’s for sure.”

Although Woodward won’t be racing horses at this year’s race meet he still plans on attending the races.

After Ben Woodward died, the Crooked River Roundup race committee named a race after him.

The Ben Woodward Memorial will run Saturday evening among a full slate of races at the fairgrounds.

“That’s another source of pride,” Woodward said. “I get to here my dad’s name over the loudspeaker a few times each year. They have races named for Jack Rhoden and Dwayne Mizer and Art Smith.”

Woodward noted that Art Smith was really active in the Prineville races, while Ben Woodward was more of a fan when it came to Prineville races.

“My dad didn’t bet much here,” he said. “But traditionally when my dad went to the races here you would see all these young betters gathered around him because they all thought he knew a lot about it. He was sort of a fixture around the races here. It’s a whole culture.”

Woodward is quick to point out that there are other families in town that have contributed more to local horse racing.

“I honestly feel humbled that they voted me Grand Marshall,” he said. “There are countless hours that go into setting up that race meet that I’ve never been a part of. I don’t feel that I deserve the honor but I sure took the honor. You can’t count the number of hours that the Smith family and all those folks, all those directors spend. Between the rodeo and the race meet I go and help them set up the stalls and the rail in the evenings and those guys have been working at it all day. I go down there after work for a couple of hours and feel like I’ve been abused almost and they just keep charging ahead. You can’t say enough about what they do. Don’t try to hype me up too much. Do it for the races.”

Crooked River Roundup Horse Races

Horse races are scheduled at the fairgrounds each night beginning at 7:15 p.m. starting tonight and running through Saturday. There are a full slate of races scheduled, with at least eight races each night.