San Diego-based electrical contractor and restaurant owner Mark Davis had an unlikely start in horse racing. When a teenage girl with a passion for the sport crossed paths with Davis, the pair embarked on a journey that five years later would land them in the winner's circle of the prestigious Malibu Stakes (G1) Dec. 26 at Santa Anita Park.
The top-level victory came with the Doug O'Neill-trained Raging Torrent, an improving son of Maximus Mischief who could take Davis on his second trip to Dubai.
Davis speaks with BloodHorse about his righthand woman, Gillian Guerra, expanding into the breeding business with a potential farm purchase in Lexington, and future plans for the star of his 13-horse stable, Raging Torrent.
BloodHorse: How did you involved in horse racing?
Mark Davis: It all had to do with a 14-year-old girl, Gillian Guerra. Her dad worked for me at a restaurant I owned. She came to me one day and said, 'Hey, do you want to get into horse racing?' and I said I don't know, why not?' I was clueless about racing then. This was like five years ago. Gillian was very knowledgeable about horse racing and pedigrees. She has a real passion for it.
We met with who is now my manager, Steve Rothblum, and another guy who owns 10% of Raging Torrent, Craig Dado; he owns the Great Friends partnership. From there, we bought a portion of a horse and now I own 13 racehorses.
Craig is in with me on five of my horses. (On Jan. 4) Don't Bring Crazy came in third for us in a grade 3 (the Las Flores Stakes) and she won a stakes back in December. She's doing very well for us.
Gillian actually knew of Craig and picked him out as a business partner for me.
BH: She sounds like a remarkable young woman.
MD: She's my solvent when it comes to racehorses. She's 18 now.
She goes to the University of Kentucky right now. Someone took care of me when I was 16 and gave me an opportunity, and I'm giving this young lady an opportunity. It's great she's going to UK, and nobody does anything with my horses unless they talk to her and get her advice.
BH: I saw you purchased Raging Torrent at the 2023 OBS April Sale. What did you like about him?
MD: Steve picked him out but I wasn't with him at the time.
I'm learning everything now. We went to the yearling sale in September at Keeneland. I learned a ton there because I wanted to see how this works. Steve's been at it for probably 40 years. That was my first time coming to the yearling sale. We'll be going to the January sale in Lexington next week. We don't know if we're going to buy anything unless something strikes our fancy, but the main reason we're there is because I'm looking to buy a farm.
BH: What's your motivation behind purchasing a farm?
MD: My first time in Lexington was in September and I was blown away by how beautiful it was. I fell in love with Lexington and just thought, 'I need a farm here.' I have a ranch in Ramona, Calif., but I don't have any Thoroughbreds on it, just Quarter Horses and two Clydesdales.
(A long-term goal would be) to have fun and, hopefully, make some money doing this.
I'd like to get into breeding and get some broodmares. If the property is large enough, we could even train some horses off it.
Believe it or not, though, I'm actually very allergic to horses—like big time. I can barely be around them. When I go in the winner's circle I just go in real quick, do my thing, and then I get out. But I love them.
BH: Reflecting on Raging Torrent, what can you say about the journey this horse has taken you on? From winning his debut at Del Mar as a 2-year-old to getting a grade 1 win in the Malibu?
MD: It's been phenomenal. First of all, I paid only $75,000 for him. And we've already been offered $2 million for him. And for him to be who he is and what he's doing I just get so excited when he runs. All of us do. If you watch the video recap of the Malibu, you can literally hear our suite screaming. With Great Friends they have 40 people show up. It's just amazing. I never thought I'd ever be in horse racing, first, and then I'd never thought I'd have a horse like Raging Torrent.
BH: What are your goals for Raging Torrent going into 2025?
MD: Right now we're going to meet and talk about what the future holds for him. I know some stallion farms are interested in him but we still want more opportunities with him on the track. We'll just leave it up to Doug (O'Neill), Steve, and the 'little one' (Gillian). He'll likely go to Dubai, with the Godolphin Mile (G2) or Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) under consideration. He'll actually be my second horse going to Dubai. (Davis and Great Friends-owned Ah Jeez finished 13th in the 2023 UAE Derby (G2)).
He's such a strong and fast horse and he's getting better and better. With the Breeders' Cup, we just got unlucky drawing the wrong slot (Raging Torrent finished seventh in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar after drawing the 1 hole). We talked about going back to the Breeders' Cup again this coming year, so we'll see.
