Heinz Steinmann, owner of Swiss Yodeler, dead at 92

California racing had a Swiss influence in the 1990s and through the 2000s.

Swiss Yodeler was a five-time stakes winner in a four-year career from 1996 to 1999 and later led the state’s stallions in progeny earnings.

Swiss Yodeler was raced by Heinz Steinmann, who died earlier this month in Wrightwood, Calif., according to published reports. Steinmann was 92.

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A native of Switzerland, Steinmann emigrated to the United States at the age of 16. The family owned a famous ski resort northeast of Los Angeles, Mountain High in Wrightwood.

As a horse owner, Steinmann was closely allied with trainer Mike Harrington. Swiss Yodeler, by Eastern Echo, won 6 of 24 starts and earned $761,442 under Harrington’s direction.

A $60,000 yearling purchase, Swiss Yodeler had his best season as a 2-year-old in 1996, winning the Grade 1 Hollywood Futurity at 1 1/16 miles and four sprint stakes at Hollywood Park and Del Mar that summer.

The Hollywood Futurity was Swiss Yodeler’s final career win. He was beaten in his last 15 starts, including a third in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes in 1997 and the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes in 1999. Both races were run at Santa Anita.

As a stallion, Swiss Yodeler was California’s leading first-year stallion in 2002, and led the overall standings in 2006, with progeny earnings of more than $4.8 million. Swiss Yodeler’s leading foal in 2006 was Thor’s Echo, who won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs.

Steinmann supported Swiss Yodeler at stud, with the stable’s blue and green silks a frequent presence at Southern California tracks.

Independent of his involvement with Swiss Yodeler, Steinmann owned Creative Cause who won 4 of 10 starts and earned $1,039,000 in a two-year career in 2011 and 2012.

A three-time stakes winner, Creative Cause was prominent in major stakes for 3-year-olds in the spring of 2012, finishing second in the Santa Anita Derby, fifth in the 2012 Kentucky Derby and third in the Preakness Stakes in 2012, losing those races to I’ll Have Another.

Creative Cause later went to stud in Kentucky.

Steinmann is survived by his wife of 68 years, Lora. The couple had 11 children. Funeral services were held last weekend.

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