Dennis Yokum New Farm Manager at Rancho San Miguel
Description:
Rancho San Miguel is pleased to announce that Dennis Yokum will join the Rancho San Miguel as farm manager, effective October 28th.
Dennis is well known and widely respected in the thoroughbred industry in California and throughout the country. Now in his fifth decade in the business, he has enjoyed success in virtually every aspect of the sport from racetrack groom to stud groom, from racing columnist to jockey's agent, from barn foreman to owner-breeder and from assistant to farm manager.
On the racetrack, he worked for such legendary horsemen as Charlie Whittingham, Dickie Dutrow and John Gosden and at farms for such famous operations as Hobeau Farm, Mrs. Markey's Calumet Farm (where he took care of Alydar upon his retirement), Leslie Combs' Spendthrift Farm and Domino Stud.
As farm manager for Mercedes Stables, he directed their rise to one of the top twenty racing stables in the country. Among several graded stakes winners there during his tenure were G1 winner Seattle Smooth (finalist for Eclipse Award for older filly and mare) and Rock Hard Ten (Eclipse Award Finalist for Horse of the Year). In addition, he purchased the dams of numerous graded stakes winners such as G1 winner Stormy Lucy, Notional, Adios Charlie , Broadway Empire and Lady Ten, herself the dam of recent Del Mar Futurity (G1) winner Nucky.
Yokum comes to Rancho San Miguel from Premier Thoroughbreds where he has managed that farm for the past four years. He has assisted in their recent rise in California racing and breeding as they own last year's leading California second crop sire and 2017's leading freshman sire Smiling Tiger and California Sprint Filly Champion Miss Sunset. Dennis has led their effort to invest in an outstanding group of broodmares to support Smiling Tiger.
A longtime friend and protégée of the late Clay Murdock, Dennis said, "No one can replace Clay but it is an honor to have the opportunity to continue the work he has done in building California's number one breeding operation." Tom Clark, owner of Rancho San Miguel, said "We are very excited to have Dennis join our team and build upon Clay's legacy."