Quarter Horse Hall of Famer Bubba Cascio dies at age 90
Charles “Bubba” Cascio, a giant in Quarter Horse racing who later in his career transitioned to training Thoroughbreds, died Wednesday morning at his Tolar, Texas, home, according to his wife, Judy Cascio. Bubba Cascio was 90.
Cascio is an American Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame member best known as the trainer Dash for Cash, the Quarter Horse world champion of 1976 and 1977. He also trained 1983 world champion Dashingly and the All American Futurity winners Three Oh’s and Rocket Wrangler. Cascio would later saddle Gold Storm in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in 2004 at his base of Lone Star Park. He also trained a past Texas Thoroughbred Association horse of the year in Lights On Broadway.
Cascio had been battling congestive heart failure and spent time in and out of hospitals and rehabilitation centers since breaking some of his ribs June 4, said Judy Cascio. She said he had been in hospice care of late and died peacefully, surrounded by family and his beloved Australian shepherds.
“Lots of memories,” Judy Cascio said of her husband of 34 years. “He’s my best friend and I’ll miss him.”
Bubba Cascio was born into a racing family in Houston and participated in several equine disciplines. His rodeo activities included roping, but being left-handed limited him in that pursuit, said Judy Cascio. The horseman also participated in cutting horse competitions and spent time race riding as a jockey. Bubba Cascio, who is a member of the National Cutting Horse Association Hall of Fame, transitioned Three Oh’s from cutting horse to racehorse.
“He said he was too quick to stay in cutting horse training,” recalled Judy Cascio.
Judy Cascio said her husband’s first farm was in Roswell, N.M., the facility that would later become the home of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird. Over the past few decades, Bubba Cascio and his wife maintained a farm in Tolar and raced across the Southwest.
Mykindasaint took the barn to Calder Race Course in 2005, where she won a stakes under Jerry Bailey. Gold Storm won stakes at Arlington Park and Fair Grounds in advance of his appearance at the Breeders’ Cup, where Cascio’s barn hosted the BC runners for close friend D. Wayne Lukas.
Bubba Cascio was the first Quarter Horse trainer to have his charges earn $1 million in purses, according to his AQHA Hall of Fame profile. Cascio also is a member of the Texas Horse Racing Hall of Fame and the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. He was an engaging personality and Bob Baffert told Daily Racing Form in 2017 that as a teenager he was fascinated by the racing stories he was fortunate enough to hear Cascio tell when Baffert’s family had business at Sunland Park .
“He was sure larger than life to me,” Judy Cascio said of her husband.
Bubba Cascio asked that his body be donated to science, and he was flown on a Science Care flight to Colorado. Plans for memorial services are to be determined, with Judy Cascio hopeful to have an event complete with pictures and other memorabilia in the Dash for Cash room at Lone Star Park.
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