Hall Starts by Breaking Ground, Then Sets Records as a Trainer

In 1972, the same year Title IX passed, horse trainer Connie Hall was in her own battle for equality. After working for a few years as a groom--feeding horses, cleaning stalls, brushing the animals--she decided she wanted to get into training on her own, a rarity for women back then.

“They tried not to let me have a license, but I passed the test so they had to let me have it,” said Hall, 54. “The men didn’t want any women around here. It was like any sport.”

When she started, Hall was constantly up against male trainers trying to test her will.

“Just little nitty picky things would happen,” she said. “You’d be sharing a walker with somebody and the last person was supposed to fold it up, but they would say ‘I’m not going to do it, it’s your walker,’ and then in the morning you would get in trouble for it. But I’m not one they’re going to scare away and make me go cry in the corner.”

Hall overcame the obstacles and is now one of the top trainers at Los Alamitos. Heading into this week, Hall had 26 victories in 170 starts this season, which put her third in the trainer standings. She has won $323,905 so far. At the $412,500 Ed Burke Memorial Futurity earlier this year, Hall had horses finish third and fourth.

Hall has had much success in training since starting 17 years ago. Early last season, Hall became only the 11th trainer at Los Alamitos to win 500 quarter horse races. In 1998 she had 50 victories. Her biggest achievement came in 1993 at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico, when she won the All American Futurity, quarter horse racing’s richest and most prestigious event. She was the first woman to win the event. Donna McArthur became the second in 1997.

Today a new woman trainer has it much easier, but Hall said that it is important for women trainers to pay dues first.

“Everybody doesn’t mind if you’ve done it for a long time,” she said. “If you come in with glitz and glamour then they feel like you had it easier then they did.”

Hall trains about 40 horses at Los Alamitos. She is the all-time leader for female trainers in wins at the track. That’s a long way from 1972, when Hall had to battle to break in.

“One of the other trainers said ‘We never thought of Connie as a woman, she was just one of us,’ ” Hall said. “That was a pretty good compliment. I felt that was an acceptance.”

YEARLING SALE

The Vessels/Schvaneveldt Yearling Sale takes place Tuesday in Bonsall. It is the creation of top Los Alamitos trainer Blane Schvaneveldt and Frank “Scoup” Vessels, and it has become one of the top yearling sales in the nation.

Last year Royal Always was sold for a record price of $650,000, but a few horses that were sold much cheaper have had success at Los Alamitos this year. Separatist, which won the Governor’s Cup Futurity and has earned $188,453 this season, was sold last year at the event for $26,000. Game Patriot won the Grade 1 Retama Park Futurity this year, and was sold for $25,000 last year.

This year, 271 horses will be on sale. The event, which is in its eighth year, will be held at the Vessels Stallion Farm. A catalog for the event, which contains information on each horse, can be obtained in advance by calling (714) 826-5584.

CLOSING POINTS

Schvaneveldt reached another milestone last Sunday, when A Tac of Class won the 10th race. It was the 3,400th victory of Schvaneveldt’s career. . . . Del Mar is hosting the “Battle at the Beach” on Aug. 28, a boxing card that will be held after the races are over.