Because Kim Lloyd had a comfortable chair, he got to be the fly on the wall when two of California’s greatest horsemen swapped tales. After training hours at Santa Anita Park, Willard Proctor would amble by to claim “his” chair at Lloyd’s barn. On Tuesdays, Charlie Whittingham would often show up and grab the only other chair.
“I would sit on a wash bucket and listen,” Lloyd said. “They’d tell the same stories about good horses. I loved that—it was the greatest.”
Lloyd has listened and learned from many good horsemen, beginning with his grandfather and continuing after he set out from his Oklahoma roots. He traveled with barns up and down the East Coast and into Kentucky before moving to Southern California, where he struck out on his own as a trainer.
Today, as vice president of sales, Lloyd helps Bill Baker, vice president and controller, manage Fairplex’s Barretts sale company. The lessons gleaned from his mentors have given Lloyd the foundation to analyze young horses for Barretts’ yearling and 2-year-old markets.
This year Lloyd has taken on another duty as the equine manager for Fairplex. He helps oversee the September fair race meeting, the training facility, and the vast array of horse shows at the Pomona, Calif., complex throughout the year.
Jerry McMahon, Barretts’ former president and general manager, hired Lloyd in 2006. When McMahon left the company in late 2008, Baker and Lloyd stepped up their involvement. Baker had worked with McMahon from the founding of Barretts in 1989, the two joining the fledgling company after stints with the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association.
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