Trudy V. McCaffery (April 10, 1944 – February 12, 2007) was a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

owner-breeder in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

who served on the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation, the NTRA Charities, the

California Thoroughbred Breeders Association The California Thoroughbred Breeders Association (CTBA), founded in 1937, is a non-profit organization committed to the advancement of thoroughbred breeding and racing in California. It is governed by a board of 16 directors elected by the associati ...

, the

Oak Tree Racing Association The Oak Tree Racing Association is an American nonprofit corporation that exists to conduct live thoroughbred horse racing in Southern California. Graded Stakes races at the Oak Tree meet Since Oak Tree Racing moved to Hollywood Park in 2010, some ...

, and the Thoroughbred Owners of California. She was also a trustee with the

Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association {{short description, Organization for Thoroughbred racehorse owners and breeders The American Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) based in Lexington, Kentucky is a trade organization for Thoroughbred racehorse owners and breeders. ...

. Born Trudy Hanson in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada, she was the daughter of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

-born

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

inductee Melvin "Fritz" Hanson and his wife, Maxine. As a young girl growing up in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

, she became an accomplished

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

. As an adult, in addition to participating in the sport of horse racing, she was an avid

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er. While living in

Rancho Santa Fe, California Rancho Santa Fe is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States, within the San Diego metropolitan area. The population was 3,156 at the 2020 census. The CDP is primarily residential with a few shopping blocks, ...

, in 1989 she began a racing partnership with Canadian-born

John Toffan John Toffan was a Canadian-born American Thoroughbred racehorse owner-breeder in California. He came to fame with his partnership with Trudy McCaffery. He had a long career racing purebreds ranging from 1989-2012. Toffan began his career in 1989 ...

. It became one of California's top racing and breeding operations, and in 1997 the

named them "Owners of the Year". They bred Round Pond, who won the 2006

Breeders' Cup Distaff The Breeders' Cup Distaff is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares, 3 years old and up. Known as the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic between 2008 and 2012, it is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or ...

. Their top runners included: * Mane Minister (b. 1988) – Won

Santa Catalina Stakes The Robert B. Lewis Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three year old horses at the distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt held annually in late January or early February at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif ...

and finished third in all three of the U.S. Triple Crown races; * Pacific Squall (b. 1989) – won Grade I

Hollywood Oaks The Summertime Oaks is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in June at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The Grade II event is open to three-year-old fillies willing to race on dirt at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles. ...

(1992); * Bien Bien (b. 1989) – a homebred who won four Grade I races including the San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap and set a course record for 1¼ miles while winning the

Hollywood Invitational Turf Handicap The Charles Whittingham Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for horses age three years old and older over a distance of miles on the turf held annually in late May at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, USA. The event cur ...

. Retired with earnings of $2,498,370; * Free House (b. 1994) – a homebred who was a two-time California Horse of the Year and whose eight

stakes race Glossary of North American horse racing: Additional glossaries at: *Glossary of Australian and New Zealand punting *Glossary of equestrian terms This is a basic glossary of equestrian terms that includes both technical terminology and jargon ...

wins included California's three most important dirt races: the

Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is currently run at a distance of miles on the dirt and carries a purse of $400,000. It is on ...

(1997), the Pacific Classic Stakes (1998), and the

Santa Anita Handicap The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up and was once considered the most important race for old ...

(1999); * A. P. Assay (b. 1994) – won the 1998 A Gleam Invitational Handicap and Desert Stormer Handicap; * Bienamado (b. 1996) – a homebred son of Bien Bien, raced in Europe and the United States in partnership with

Robert Sangster Robert Edmund Sangster (23 May 1936 – 7 April 2004)

. Won Prix de Condé in France and three Grade I races in California. Career earnings of $1,261,009; *

Bosque Redondo Fort Sumner was a military fort in New Mexico Territory charged with the internment of Navajo and Mescalero Apache populations from 1863 to 1868 at nearby Bosque Redondo. History On October 31, 1862, Congress authorized the construction of For ...

(b. 1997) – a homebred son of Mane Minister. In 2002 won the

San Bernardino Handicap The Tokyo City Cup Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the beginning of April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. A Grade III event raced on dirt at a distance of miles (12 furlongs), it is open to horses aged f ...

; *

Came Home Came Home (March 29, 1999 – July 8, 2021) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by Gone West, who was recently pensioned aMill Ridge Farm Came Home was out of the graded-stakes-winning mare Nice Assay. Came Home got his name af ...

(b. 1999) – a homebred raced in partnership with John Goodman and William Farish III whose wins included the Grade I

Hopeful Stakes The Hopeful Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to two-year-old horses, the Hopeful is the first Grade I stakes for two-year-olds each season and historically has ...

Saratoga Race Course Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the country, but is actua ...

and

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

's Pacific Classic Stakes and Santa Anita Derby. Career earnings of $1,835,940. In addition to her involvement with various California horse racing associations, in 1999 McCaffery founded "Kids to the Cup", a non-profit organization dedicated to developing young racing fans. She was also a member of the board of directors of the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation, which raises money to help racetrack backstretch employees, and the board of the

National Thoroughbred Racing Association The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) is a broad-based coalition of American horse racing interests consisting of leading thoroughbred racetracks, owners, breeders, trainers and affiliated horse racing associations, charged with incr ...

Charities. For her contributions to the Thoroughbred racing industry, she was awarded the 2002 National Thoroughbred Racing Association Commissioners Cup and the 2004 Clay Puett Award by the Racetrack Industry Program. Sixty-two-year-old McCaffery died at her home on February 12, 2007, following a lengthy battle with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

.February 12, 2007, Bloodhorse.com obituary for Trudy McCaffery
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References

External links

Trudy McCaffery and John Toffan at the NTRA

''Thoroughbred Times'' article titled ''California mainstay Trudy McCaffery dies at 62''
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCaffery, Trudy 1944 births 2007 deaths American racehorse owners and breeders Businesspeople from Winnipeg Canadian racehorse owners and breeders Deaths from lung cancer People from Rancho Santa Fe, California