Trainer Snapshot: Bruce Headley

One of California's native sons, Bruce Headley has been training Thoroughbreds in the Golden State for 50 years.

Two main things impressed me about trainer Bruce Headley. The first is the closeness of his family and the obvious time and effort they have put into building a life around a sport they love. Both of his children -- Gus and Karen -- are trainers. And Headley insists that his wife and lifelong sweetheart, Aase, is the "brains" of the operation.

The second thing is Headley's incredible memory and his connection to and respect for the great California trainers of the past under whose tutelage he learned his trade.


Headley was born in Baldwin Park on February 14, 1934 and grew up in Southern California when it was still a land of orange groves and dairy farms. He was introduced to racing at the age of six by an uncle who worked at Santa Anita, and he quickly fell in love with Thoroughbred horses, leaving home at 15 to live on a ranch and learn to ride racehorses.

When his weight caught up with his height and he realized he would be too big to continue as a jockey, he turned to training in 1959. But he transferred his knowledge and passion for riding to the jockeys he worked with and to his two children. Headley helped launch the riding careers of Eclipse Award winning apprentice jockeys Steve Valdez and Robyn Smith.

He trained Eclipse Award winning sprint champion Kona Gold, who at the end of his racing career served as Headley’s stable pony until his retirement to the Kentuky Horse Park. He also trained multiple graded stakes winners Got Koko, Kalookan Queen, Surf Cat , Variety Road, Bertrando, Silveyville, and Son of a Pistol, as well as a long roster of other graded stakes winners.

In this Trainer Snapshot video interview, Headley talks about his introduction to Thoroughbred racing, riding styles and how they have evolved, and what he loves about training horses.

Southern California Trainers Offer Praise for Merlin Volzke

Trainer Bruce Headley holds a photo montage of Volzke's six wins in one season aboard Fast and Lucky.

This morning out at Clockers’ Corner, Santa Anita, when I asked a few longtime trainers what they remembered about Merlin Volzke, I heard an outpouring of praise for the man who will be the recipient of the Laffit Pincay Jr. Award at Hollywood Park this weekend. In an industry where everyone’s got an opinion, it was difficult indeed to find someone with anything other than a good opinion of Volzke.

Mel Stute, for whom Volzke rode many races, put it best: “In my opinion, anything you could say about him would have to be nice.” Stute then added, “He was never in the limelight for doing anything wild.”

Volzke will be the first jockey to receive the Pincay Award, which will be presented by the Hall of Fame jockey himself during Saturday’s Hollywood Gold Cup program.

He was apparently so well known for his integrity as a rider, that several trainers I spoke to said that Volzke was notorious for never getting “set down.” In fact, the general consensus was that he only received one suspension in his entire riding career – and a minor one at that.

“He was a good advertising for racing,” said George Vogel.

Bruce Headley, for whom Volzke rode in the 1970s, was also eager to offer words of praise.

“He helped me more than any other jockey in the days when I was working my own horses,” said Headley. Headley proudly displays some of the winning photos from those days, noting that Volzke won 8 of 11 races on Fast and Lucky for him in 1974. Six of those wins came in one season at Golden Gate Fields. The other two were the Camellia and Native Diver Stakes at Bay Meadows the same year.

It seemed that everyone wanted to share a story about Volzke. Hot walker Danny Kaplan recalled an encounter with Volzke in 1977, when Kaplan rode his first race at Vallejo. Volzke, who was nearing retirement and rode in the same race, came up to Kaplan afterwards and asked, “How did it feel?” Kaplan said, “I asked him what he meant, and he said, ‘Riding your first race! I can’t remember.’”

Volzke began his professional riding career in the 1940's and was leading jockey at Longacres in 1948. His major victories in California included an upset win on Hanalei Bay in the 1970 Hollywood Derby, the 1961 El Camino Handicap on Native Diver, the 1954 San Pasqual Handicap on Phil D., the 1954 Santa Anita Maturity on Apple Valley, the 1968 San Gabriel Handicap and 1969 Arcadia Handicap on Rivet, the 1969 La Jolla Handicap on Eagle Fly, and the 1969 San Miguel Stakes on Mr. Joe F.

Volzke, now 83, retired as a jockey in 1979. He then worked as a steward at Los Alamitos and Bay Meadows before retiring in 2005. He was the recipient of the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1958 and the Jackie Robinson Memorial Award at Bay Meadows in 1975. He now lives in Pinole, Calif., with wife Catherine of 56 years and daughter Eileen.

The Pincay Award is presented annually to an individual who has served the sport with integrity, extraordinary dedication, determination and distinction. Congratulations to a recipient who so obviously deserves the honor!

In Memory of Got Koko

This morning I learned from trainer Bruce Headley that grade 1 stakes winner Got Koko died from foaling complications on Sunday, Mar. 5 after delivering a Bernardini colt at Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Farm in Kentucky.

I will never forget the thrill of watching the gutsy filly make history at Santa Anita for Headley, who trained her for his wife, Aase, and Paul Leung. Got Koko was one of only three fillies ever to sweep the prestigious La Canada series, which she accomplished during the early part of the 2002-03 Santa Anita meet. The series consists of the La Brea Stakes (G1), El Encino Stakes (G2), and La Canada Stakes (G2).

Got Koko won seven of 15 starts and earned $960,946. She is the dam of a three-year-old filly by A.P. Indy named Koko Pop, a two-year-old colt by A.P. Indy, and a yearling colt by Ghostzapper. Rest in peace, Koko.