Del Mar: Best Pal win would be breakthrough for owner Tackitt

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DEL MAR, Calif. – Jason Tackitt needed advice.

A few years ago, as he began investing in Thoroughbred racing, Tackitt contacted Kosta Hronis, a fellow resident of Bakersfield, Calif., and racehorse owner, seeking to learn what to expect in the game. Hronis started out with a few horses, and has grown his stable to be the leading owner in Southern California this year.

“I knew him from a distance,” Tackitt recalled last weekend. “I asked if we could meet for breakfast. I wanted to know his failures and his successes.”

Tackitt, 38, has put that information to use. Soon, it might be his turn to dispense advice if a prospective owner calls.

In the last year, Tackitt’s involvement in horses has increased, with the purchase of property turned into a horse farm in Bakersfield and more runners on the track. Sunday, he will try to win his first stakes when Alberts Hope starts in the $150,000 Best Pal Stakes for 2-year-olds at Del Mar.

Purchased for $40,000 at the Barretts October yearling sale last year, Alberts Hope was bought as a prospect to follow for Tackitt’s father-in-law, Albert Black, as he underwent cancer treatment last winter. Alberts Hope was broken for racing at Tackitt’s farm under the direction of former racetrack trainer Danny Hunsaker.

The gelding, by the City Zip stallion Run Away and Hide, made his debut at Betfair Hollywood Park on July 14 in a maiden special weight race over five furlongs for trainer Mike Puype. Always near the front, Alberts Hope closed through the stretch to win by three-quarters of a length in a 33-1 upset.

“We knew he was better than 30-1,” Tackitt said. “Mike said he didn’t have him cranked up.”

Alberts Hope races under the name Jaam Racing, an acronym for the first names of the Tackitt family – Jason, his wife, Megan, and their daughters, Ashley and Alyson. They were at Del Mar, along with Black, to watch Alberts Hope work five furlongs in 1:00 on Sunday.

At home, the family has poured energy, and money, into the farm, where the Tackitt girls have riding horses among the 30-strong herd of horses of all ages.

“It gives us something to do,” Tackitt said.

One of the newest members is a foal born on May 4, Kentucky Derby Day, a Dixie Chatter colt out of a Bertrando mare.

The farm had few amenities when purchased, but Tackitt said he has invested $1.5 million in the property, which includes a roping arena and a half-mile track. Outside of racing, Tackitt’s business holdings include JTI Electrics, which provides automated machines for the processing of pistachios and almonds. He said he recently sold a majority interest in the company.

[DEL MAR 2013: Complete meet coverage, schedule, race replays]

His interest in racing is not just sporting. Tackitt said last weekend that he is exploring the possibility of opening a mini-satellite simulcasting location in the Bakersfield area.

This summer, Tackitt has horses with trainers Phil D’Amato and Richard Baltas as well as with Puype.

One of the Puype-trained horses is Muchos Besos, a 4-year-old gelding who was claimed for $50,000 in 2011, lost via claim for $12,500 last December, and then re-claimed for $10,000 in April. Since rejoining Tackitt’s stable, Muchos Besos has started three times, winning a $57,490 allowance race at Hollywood Park on June 22.

“He may be one of those horses that gets better later in life,” Tackitt said.

There are high expectations for Alberts Hope.

Puype said that Alberts Hope deserves to start in the Best Pal over 6 1/2 furlongs to see how he has progressed. A win could lead to a start in the $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 4, or the Barretts Juvenile Stakes at the Los Angeles County Fair meeting at Fairplex Park later in September.

Watching Alberts Hope develop over the winter became a routine for the Tackitts, who are planning a return trip to Del Mar for Sunday’s race.

“He became a family pet,” Tackitt said. “They’re excited.”