Inside the Owner’s Box with Auerbach, Restrepo and Seitz

Thoroughbred owners Harris Auerbach, Ramiro Restrepo and Anna Seitz take readers inside the owner's box in 2015. Auerbach, Restrepo and Seitz will give readers insight into race day habits, their favorite race track and their biggest accomplishment, plus things like what kind of music, fashion and vacations they prefer. 
In the October edition we find out who they most admire and what their lucky break in the industry was. We also learn who collected worms as a kid.

What’s your favorite racetrack and why?
AUERBACH: Santa Anita Park due to the high caliber of racing, the beautiful setting, the perfect year-round weather and the amenities of the facility.
RESTREPO: Saratoga. It’s the oldest sporting venue in this country.  It brings you back to another time …
SEITZ: A tie between Arlington Park and Saratoga. We have won a lot of races at Arlington Park the past few years, and the hospitality is incredible. Mr. D [owner Richard Duchossois] always makes us feel so special when we run there. Saratoga is like my home away from home. I’ve been going there since my Mom was pregnant with me.
SEITZ CELEBRATING A WIN AT ARLINGTON PARK

Photo courtesy of Anna Seitz
What’s the best horse racing event in America for a new fan to attend?
AUERBACH: I would go with Breeders’ Cup Saturday because of all of the high-level races, the good-sized crowd and the general enthusiasm. I shy away from Opening Day at Del Mar, Blue Grass Stakes day at Keeneland and Kentucky Derby day at Churchill because the crowd sizes are generally too big for the facilities and there is too much chaos in the stands. I want people to have a great experience and to come back.
RESTREPO: The Breeders’ Cup. It’s a fantastic, two-day event … great way to introduce a new fan to the best horses in America.
SEITZ: Breeders’ Cup
Pick two celebrities to be your parents. Who are they?
AUERBACH: I don’t care to have different parents. So, NEXT!!!
RESTREPO: Gene Hackman and Anjelica Huston in “The Royal Tenenbaums” … the closest thing to my parents on the big screen.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
AUERBACH: Doing what I want, when I want to do it and with whom I want to do it with. Does that make any sense?
SEITZ: I try to remain content. Life is full of ups and downs but if you just try to stay realistic and just enjoy the ride, it’s a pretty amazing ride.
Which living person do you admire most and why?
AUERBACH: My mother, Madeline, is the person I admire most. I think she is an incredible and selfless human being. What she has given to the horse racing industry in terms of service, innovation and dedication is almost unheard of. Without her ideas and tireless efforts, race horse retirement and aftercare would still be in the dark ages. She has put in thousands of hours, all unpaid, to make sure our equine athletes are taken care of once their careers have ended. She has also donated her time and efforts representing the horse people in California on both the TOC (Thoroughbred Owners of California) and CHRB (California Horse Racing Board) boards and trying to do what she can to help our industry. She doesn’t do it for accolades, money or attention. She gives back because she loves horse racing and cares about the horses and the people in our industry.
AUERBACH WITH HIS FAMILY, INCLUDING MOTHER MADELINE (FAR LEFT)

Photo courtesy of Harris Auerbach
SEITZ: Mother Teresa. To be so selfless and so kind is truly admirable. She was an amazing woman.
What was your favorite thing to collect as a child?
AUERBACH: NFL team football pencils were very popular in the 1970s. I had the full collection!
RESTREPO: Baseball and football trading cards — have some pretty cool rookie cards.
SEITZ: Worms
What’s in your omelette?
AUERBACH: Cheddar cheese and veggies
RESTREPO: Cheddar, tomato, avocado and bacon
SEITZ: Spinach, peppers, ham, cheese, tomatoes … any kind of veggies really. 
What was your lucky break?
AUERBACH: Being born into a wonderful family at a wonderful point in human history was my lucky break. In terms of the horse business, it’s two words: Unusual Heat.
SEITZ: Good question. I have always been a hard worker. I would say when Todd Pletcher hired me it was the start of a good career in the horse industry.
If you were going to have a feud with a rapper, it would be over what and with which rapper?
AUERBACH: I don’t know any rappers and don’t have any problems with them as I’m not a fan of rap music, so why I would I have a feud or pick one with any of them? What a strange question.
RESTREPO: Any of these new artists, most of the hip-hop this last decade is subpar. I would call them out and compare their nursery rhymes to the classics.
Which current jockey do you admire the most and why?
AUERBACH: The jockey I admire most is Rosie Napravnik for being so good and so professional in such a male dominated sport. Unlike some other female jocks of the past and present, she is a horseperson first and not a celebrity or a daredevil. It cannot be easy to be as good and as confident as she is when you are different than everybody else competing as the highest levels of the sport.
SEITZ: Johnny Velazquez. He is a good friend of ours and I see how nice he is to everyone. He’s not only a good jockey, but a good husband, father, friend, etc. I see a lot of children look up to him. He is a good role model and a good leader. We need more positive role models like Johnny.
Do you read the newspaper? If so, which one(s)?
AUERBACH: No. It’s an outdated method of news and information delivery whose time has come and gone.
RESTREPO: New York Post and the Miami Herald.
RESTREPO AT GULFSTREAM WITH FRIENDS

SEITZ: Not enough. We get the [Lexington] Herald-Leader. I read all the horse racing websites online on a daily basis and The Week is my favorite magazine.