BY SARAH WELK BAYNUM

Elaine Ansbacher combines lifelong involvement in the Florida Thoroughbred industry and long-time FTBOA membership with her career as a key player on team FTBOA.

“My grandfather was an Irishman who galloped horses. Eventually, he moved to the United States. After my dad got out of school, he joined the Navy and was stationed in Jacksonville, FL,” says Ansbacher.  “He and my mother bought a farm in Jacksonville when he got out of the Navy, and they would go to Hialeah and Tampa Bay Downs. I was pretty young when they bought the farm, and started riding then. I was given my first horse when I was around eight or nine years old. She was a Thoroughbred mare that my dad raced and had retired.”

After that, whenever her parents had a horse that retired from racing, she would retrain them and then show them in hunter/jumper competitions. 

“I’ve always had Thoroughbreds in some capacity. In the 1990s, I bought land and built my own farm in Jacksonville. I started by acquiring two or three mares, eventually getting up to about six mares, and then bred them to Ocala stallions. Then, I started buying weanlings to sell or pinhook. I also ended up racing the horses, which then led to claiming some mares as well. I managed a real estate law firm at the time while I ran my farm in Jacksonville. I did that for quite a few years where I met a lot of knowledgeable horse folks from all over the country,” says Ansbacher.

Florida-bred Gettin Out Quick

In 2006 Ansbacher purchased a farm in Ocala. It was shortly after buying her Ocala farm that she bought a speedy little weanling filly at Ocala Breeders’ Sales named Gettin Out Quick for $1,200.

“She was really small and edgy, and I wasn’t going to be able to resell her, so I kept her to race,” says Ansbacher. “I had known a fellow FTBOA member, Adam Parker, because he helped me foal my mares down here, so I sent this filly to him. She did really well for us. She won several races, and it was exciting! Sometimes you just never know what you’re going to get—she’s one of the cheapest horses I ever bought out of the OBS sale. It was just a happenstance purchase, and she was probably the most exciting racehorse I’ve owned. She ended up making me over $75,000 total.”

It was Getting Out Quick that led to one of Ansbacher’s most special memories as a racehorse owner. 

“She reeled off three wins in 2012. She just led the pack gate to wire in those three races and in each win picture she’s all by herself at the finish line,” says Ansbacher. “I remember calling my mom and saying she won, and then she won again. That was very exciting, especially since she had three wins in a row. She was quirky, but tough!” 

Later, Ansbacher also took a job with Live Oak Stud working for Charlotte Weber for over 10 years.

“I was the assistant to the general manager and Mrs. Weber’s Florida assistant. In my opinion, her homebreds were the superstars of her program—she had some great turf horses,” says Ansbacher. “I called them ‘approval’ horses because they were out of her mare Win Approval. They were just phenomenal! Two of those horses won the Breeders’ Cup Turf and I think four millionaires came out of that mare. I scaled my operation back around that time so I could live vicariously through hers. I did tasks there like keeping inventory of the mares’ bookings for the foals, or sending them to Kentucky, and keeping track of horses racing. I even made arrangements for Mrs. Weber to go to the Triple Crown races and Saratoga in the summer, and Breeders’ Cup in the fall. It was very exciting working there!”

 

It was this connection that eventually led to Ansbacher becoming the executive assistant at the FTBOA.

“Because Mrs. Weber was on the board of directors, I met Becky Robinson, who had my job here at the time. Becky was going to retire, and that’s how I came to work at the FTBOA. I had been an FTBOA member since around 1995, but I never dreamed I’d be working here! At the FTBOA I interact with the board and other staff, the FTBOA members, the lobbyists in Tallahassee, and with the CEO Lonny Powell. My favorite part of my job is working with the CEO and the board of directors, making all their meetings happen and keeping everybody notified. We meet almost daily, whether it’s meetings, calls, or at the races. We try to encourage the board to get out and go to the races often, too.”

Elaine Ansbacher and Florida-bred All In Rhythm

The Thoroughbred breed has had a special, life-long  place in her heart both during her time retraining and showing them as well as working in the racing industry.

“Thoroughbreds have taught me so much. Every day is an education with them, whether you’re in the barn, in the FTBOA office, or talking to the people that I’ve worked with in the racing industry. Thoroughbreds have taught me more than I could ever teach them!” adds Ansbacher.

Return to the February 4 issue of Wire to Wire