Taboada Racing Places Autism Awareness Center Stage

Connection is a word that rests at the very core of Johnny Taboada Racing Stables. Though the Peru native has anywhere from 40-50 horses in his operation, including yearlings, 2-year-olds, broodmares, etc., a great many have names that offer a recurring message. Autism Awareness, Touched by Autism, Autisms World, Strength of Autism, Friend of Autism, and so it repeats. When Taboada's son Renzo was born 23 years ago and 18 months later was given the diagnosis of autism, he quickly learned how unequipped the world was for people on the spectrum. Through his long-standing passion for Thoroughbreds and a commitment to educating and bringing together the communities around him, Taboada has paved a path where horse racing and autism awareness become gloriously aligned. Taboada spoke with BloodHorse MarketWatch on a life dedicated to horses and his family, past and current successes, and what he hopes the future will hold. MarketWatch: Tell us how you began your journey in the racing industry and horses. Johnny Taboada: As a kid, I grew up not necessarily around horses, but in the city— of Lima, Peru. My house was 30 minutes' walking distance away from the racetrack. I was so close to horse racing and my dad, who I didn't live with, I got to see him at the racetrack because he liked to gamble. From that point forward, as a teenager I just loved being around horses, and racing, I didn't know anything about what happened on the backside; I was more just a fan and watched the races. Later on, I came to the states to go to school and I thought participating in racing was always something I wanted to do. But I had never been much of a bettor; I always wanted the experience of being with the horses. I got myself into small partnerships initially and then we were winning here and there, but me being Spanish and speaking the language, I got to know people on the backside, younger people who worked with the horses, that piqued my interest. There were a lot of people that I could relate with. Before you know it, I started meeting new people that got their license to train and I said 'why don't we partner.' Things just grew from that point forward, around 2004-2005. Little by little, I got horses here and there and got more involved. MW: What career did you pursue which originally helped to support your horse habit? JT: I'm a mortgage broker. Horse racing was second to that as a business because, obviously my main focus was on the mortgage (business). As of late, I've been focusing a lot more on the horses. The market has changed in the mortgage world. I'm treating the horses more like a full-time business now. I am in the process of starting a new venture with horses. MW: Tell us more about your personal life. When did the idea come about to start naming your horses to raise awareness for autism? JT: My son (Renzo) was diagnosed when he was very young. Back then, autism was very unknown. He was 18 months old around the year 2000-2001. For us, it was a completely new thing and something we had to learn. Whenever I face something unknown, I'm the type of person to do what I can to learn, be involved, and be directly involved. My family and I needed to be in full drive to get behind this. I was extremely involved with his upbringing, his therapy, and everything that comes with learning and finding out about a person being diagnosed with autism. The circumstances were that there were no services there at that time...In many cases, the drive behind my son's well being was the drive to start new services in many locations here. He was, for a lack of better words, a guinea pig of applied behavioral therapy, occupational therapy, (we thought) this is something we should do here that is out there that we can explore. At the same time, there was my passion for horse racing. I started getting more involved in racing as far as getting a (business) of my own and buying babies, buying yearlings. It was something I wanted to explore, knowing that it would take three years to run. I wanted to start from scratch. At that point, with everything we were going through as a family and advocating for services for our son, dealing with the school districts, I got so in tune with everything and my wife and I said, 'We get to name horses, right? What better opportunity to name something that puts something out there that we are a force behind?' In this case, it was autism awareness. There was just very little known. Professionals didn't know much about it, they knew some things, but there was nobody like there is today. MW: What does Renzo think of the horses? JT: He's a very social man; he's 23 now. He loves to be around people, he loves the racing aspect not so much winning or losing but being in a setting where he's welcomed and given a chance to be himself. He knows all the jockeys, trainers, personnel, and the management of the tracks that we visit. Luckily, he's a very likable and charismatic man. He's super happy being around the horses and we go and see the horses and feed them carrots. That only adds to the complete package. Being around him, he's a magnet for good vibes, positivity, and great things. I learn from my son every day of my life. He teaches me how to be a better person just by the way he goes about his day. MW: One of your first horses towards the cause was Autism Awareness, a $1,000 purchase from the 2006 California Breeders' Association Northern California Yearling Sale who ended his career as a dual grade 3 winner with earnings of $356,732. What was it like to campaign him? JT: I remember us buying four horses (in 2006). We named two or three with autism and one with something else. Autism Awareness ended up being a horse that was really behind this force as far as all the things we were able to accomplish as far as combining this industry with creating awareness. From that point forward, I started going out of my way to be sure that I put the name on the silks and the logo. There are people out there that we needed to connect with. Here we are connecting with families and people from different locations who have something in common. It's been an unbelievable experience. For me, it was the peak of racing so far. It's kind of like having your first son be born. It doesn't mean you're not going to have the same feeling for your other kids, but it's just the feeling you get. It took 13 races for him to break his maiden. He was finding his way from the first time he started, he didn't want to break; he wasn't quite ready. Long story short, the horse broke his maiden, we entered the 2008 El Camino Real Derby (G3), and nobody wanted to ride him. The jockey who rode him before chose a different horse, so we ended up picking up a new kid who had just joined the racetrack. We ended up winning with 62-1 odds. It was the biggest story of the moment, everything changed...Every time the horse showed up there were always people who noticed because they could connect to autism. MW: Currently, you have your very first stallion in stakes winner Touched by Autism as well as In Honor of Autism, who ran in the Feb. 11 El Camino Real Derby. What are the plans for these two horses? JT: When Autism Awareness ran, he ran for seven years and had a lot of time off. Unfortunately, it didn't end well for that horse. It was probably the worst day of my life. The horse took a bad step and we had to euthanize him at the racetrack (in 2013). For me, being on a high note, winning the (El Camino Real) Derby, and then him going down the way he did, I felt so guilty even though we could not prevent it. I said, 'If I ever have a horse that somewhat mirrors what he did, I'm going to give him a full chance not just to race but to continue this legacy and carry the message forward.' Touched by Autism is an example of that...I retired him because the horse was telling me it was time. He was very healthy, and never had any issues, but he won over $300,000, he won a stakes race, he was grade 3 placed. Not the greatest pedigree but a great-looking horse, I said 'When I retire him, I am going to do right by the horse,' meaning that he had to continue the message. Last year, I retired him, put him in a small barn, and the mares (I had) that would be a good suit as far as pedigree, winning, and talent, I got ready for him. In addition to those, I bought some broodmare prospects from Kentucky and brought those to the ranch. I ended up having nine broodmares bred to Touched by Autism. A year later, unfortunately, one aborted, but we have eight broodmares in foal. (Going forward) I will be sure that I carry that momentum. I am in the process of partnering with a local ranch in which we want to utilize horses and autism to take it to a next level. Maybe create some services are far as horse therapy, or horse retirement. That will be the initial setting that will allow us to continue the purpose of doing this. People might be enticed to breed to (Touched by Autism) once we send the message across and we have the right property to host it and the proper setting for families to come to see the babies and a facility that engages with the local community. We are planning on doing it, and are just in the baby steps right now. (In Honor of Autism) is a young horse. He hasn't done anything wrong. Even when he didn't run well, he lost by eight lengths in the El Camino Real Derby, when in reality, he was not quite ready to run the race because he was sprinting. We went for it because the race was there and we thought we can always run an allowance coming up but we can't run the El Camino again. We took that chance. The horse is doing fantastic and he's now prepared to go two turns. I think we're going to go with the flow. The next race will be an allowance, two turns, and we will see how he goes. He's a very good horse that is sound and he's won three out of six. The last race was the only race that he wasn't in the money. The sky is the limit, but we're going to take it easy, one step at a time. MW: What is behind the design of your silks? JT: The puzzle right, these four pieces of puzzle that connect but they are not together— that's what autism is about, we don't know where autism comes from. We all have different ideas of where it might come from but it is a puzzle for all of us. These four colors that show that every person is unique and obviously the horse in the middle is what we are, the racing aspect. The Thoroughbred opening up and going down the lane. Combining the puzzle and the horse in the middle, it made sense for me and now people recognize it. Not only in California, but in Arizona, Minnesota, and I have four horses in Kentucky that will be running with our silks. Little by little, we are planting the seed and hopefully more of these horses will get noticed. MW: What impact have you seen since putting autism into the spotlight in racing? What does the future look like? JT: There is a feeling that we all have when we come across something like this and in many cases, like myself, there's a lot of guilt. It's like, 'What have we done?' 'Why us?' Not until it happens to you do you realize it's out there and it's me; it's happening. The more I get a chance to talk to people, the more we can open up and share ideas, I feel that my duty is to let people know that there is hope, and something good will come from it. We have to embrace inclusion and embrace (people with autism) to be sure they're part of our lives and give them a chance. Many people who approach me behind the scenes, whether it be on social media or at the racetrack, because they see me and my silks, we start talking and exchange phone numbers. In many cases I feel like I'm helping others, sometimes just from talking and sometimes (by giving advice) to become more like an advocate. Every person deserves a chance and there is something that can be done. My ultimate dream is just to have a chance to compete at a high level and to have the exposure I always wanted to have for these horses. Of course not only the biggest stages like the Breeders' Cup or the Kentucky Derby, but also being invited to participate. How cool would that be if one of these horses that have a meaning behind it (made it there)? In the meantime, winning a $4,000 claimer at a local track means a lot to us. We enjoy it and take every race very seriously for every horse. I aspire someday to have a foundation and nonprofit behind the momentum of having the new stallion and new babies where families can come, connect with the horses, and they can get horse and music therapy, social events. The inclusion would be there and we can have many of these places in different locations. We can use the momentum as an initial stepping stone. We need these great vibes around our industry that is under scrutiny. Every day there is something there that is putting this industry down for any reason. It doesn't need to be that way. Horses themselves are such great animals, and they connect so well with people and people with disabilities even more. It's something that I cannot describe. Using this as a way to connect the dots, it just makes sense.