Tom Pedulla is interviewing prominent owners, trainers, and jockeys as they travel the Road to the 150th Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve May 4 at Churchill Downs.

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This installment features Eric and Sharon Waller, who bred and own Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold. The couple lives in Murrieta, Calif. Stronghold, by 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper out of the Jimmy Creed mare Spectator, ranks fourth on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 125 points.

Stronghold is 2-for-2 this season, having won the Sunland Park Derby in his 3-year-old debut. His record stands at three wins and three seconds in six starts for earnings of $827,200. He is trained by prominent West Coast conditioner Phil D’Amato, who will be saddling his first Derby starter.

Waller discussed the passion for Thoroughbreds that he shares with his wife, the challenges they face as small breeders, and the immense satisfaction they feel as breeders of a top Derby contender during a question-and-answer session conducted on behalf of America’s Best Racing.

PEDULLA: How did you become interested in racing?

WALLER: My dad was an avid horseplayer when I was growing up in the 50s. I really never knew anything about it and then I started going to the races. And then I met Sharon. Sharon is my second wife, and I am her second husband. I thought it would be a fun thing if I took Sharon to the races [at Fairplex Park in Pomona, Calif.] as a date [in 1983]. I had no idea she knew anything about racing. I just wanted to spend the day with her. Then I found out that her brother [Richard Beasley] was a jockey. She had grown up on horse farms and knew more about horses and racing than I’ll ever know.

Sharon Waller hugs Antonio Fresu after the Santa Anita Derby. (BENOIT photo)

PEDULLA: How did you get involved in breeding?

WALLER: I started breeding in California in 1995. I wasn’t having a lot of luck. Sharon grew up on horse ranches, so she knew her way around horses. I had to get my hands on every single book I could find so that I could educate myself on what I should be doing. I studied pedigrees. I got BloodHorse magazine. I wouldn’t read the articles. I would go to the back of the book and look at the pedigrees of the stakes winners.

PEDULLA: How many horses do you own?

WALLER: Horses of racing age, we have six. The only broodmare we have is Tenacious Heart. She is a half-sister to Stronghold’s dam, Spectator.

PEDULLA: What led you to send Spectator to Ghostzapper?

WALLER: Spectator is from the extended family of Distorted Humor. When I was researching who to breed Spectator to, I think nine of Ghostzapper’s graded-stakes winners were out of Distorted Humor mares. 

PEDULLA: Ghostzapper had a reputation for brilliance but also for not being very sound. Do you have any soundness issues with Stronghold?

WALLER: He is very sound. His feet are coal black and just as hard as rocks. We haven’t had any issues at all with soundness.

Stronghold bested Imagination in the Santa Anita Derby. (BENOIT photo)

PEDULLA: What was the best horse you owned before Stronghold?

WALLER: The best horse would be Stronghold’s third dam, Swiss Diva. Swiss Diva won at first asking at Santa Anita Oak Tree, she won a first-level allowance at Hollywood Park and then she came back and won the California Breeders’ Stakes by nine lengths with a 93 Beyer [Speed Figure]. Swiss Diva went on to win many more races.

PEDULLA: When Stronghold broke his maiden, it was only his second start, and it was going a mile at Churchill Downs. That must be very encouraging.

WALLER: We knew we probably had a good horse on our hands before the race. When we brought him over to Churchill, he absolutely loves that track. He was right at home there, got over the track so well.

PEDULLA: What was it like to see Stronghold split horses and win the Santa Anita Derby by a neck?

WALLER: It was dramatic, exciting. It just took a while to sink in. When we finally made it down into the winner’s circle, I went up to my trainer and I said, ‘I want to bring him in.’ So I walked onto the track, they put a shank on him, and I walked him around a bit before we came into the winner’s circle. Then the photographers, the interviewers, that was a lot to comprehend all at once. I just wasn’t prepared for the amount of attention that my wife and I were going to get from that win.

PEDULLA: Why did you choose the Sunland Derby in New Mexico for his 3-year-old debut?

WALLER: I’ve been in the business long enough to know that you need to listen to your trainer. I had originally wanted to run in the Rebel Stakes, and I thought maybe after that the Jeff Ruby [Steaks]. Phil felt that the stage of training the horse was in, the Sunland Derby would be a softer spot. Phil D’Amato made the decision to send him down to Sunland Park and run for those points there.

PEDULLA: He is undefeated in a pair of starts at age 3. Is he a better horse at 3?

WALLER: Well, he’s not the same horse he was at 2. He’s grown and matured. He’s a very smart horse. He sleeps a lot. Every time we go to the barn, he’s laying down. He’s got a good mind. He’s an easygoing traveler. If you look at his past performances, he’s run six times with three wins and three seconds and he’s never run at the same track twice. Churchill Downs will be the first time he’s raced at the same track two times.

PEDULLA: What does it mean to reach the Derby with a homebred? Does that add to your level of satisfaction?

WALLER: It’s the crowning achievement. When I got into breeding and this racing business, I thought to myself, ‘I want to breed a stakes winner.’ And then when I got a stakes winner, I said, ‘I want to breed a graded-stakes winner.’ Once I got that, I said, ‘I need to breed a Grade 1 winner.’ I’ve been doing this for more than 25 years now. It’s taken me that long to do it. A lot of people do it a lot sooner, but I’m a small breeder.  

Trainer Phil D'Amato greets Stronghold. (BENOIT photo)

PEDULLA: What is the highest number of horses you bred at one time?

WALLER: I’m going to say four probably.

PEDULLA: How big a role has Phil D’Amato played in Stronghold’s success?

WALLER: He’s it. I gave him the horse and he’s the one who decided how he needs to be trained. I give Phil a lot of credit for the way he’s brought him along. He trained Stronghold to catch horses. He doesn’t just take him onto the track and stick another horse next to him and say, ‘OK, I want you guys to work five furlongs in 1:01.’ I’ve had other trainers in the past and that is the way a lot of trainers train. But Phil got this horse, and he realized what he had, and he decided he was going to train him differently. He would start two or three horses ahead of him and tell his rider, ‘I want you to go out there and catch them.’ And so that is how he trained him to pick a target and go after that target.

PEDULLA: Can Stronghold get the Kentucky Derby’s mile and a quarter?

WALLER: When we went to see him after the [1 1/8-mile] Santa Anita Derby, he didn’t look like he’d broken a sweat. He looked great. He licked the feed tub clean. Phil says he wants more ground.

PEDULLA: What would it mean if Stronghold could win the Derby? Do you allow yourself to dream of that?

WALLER: I don’t know that my brain is big enough to take all of that in. None of us were dreaming of winning the Santa Anita Derby six months ago or even three months ago. To think we could be Kentucky Derby winners is just overwhelming and tough to comprehend at this point.