John C. Harris dead: Well-known California horse

John C. Harris, California horse-racing mogul, had a explicit love for the thoroughbred breeding and racing sector of his company, Harris Farms.

Multiple horses that have been raised and educated at Coalinga-based Harris Farms went on to develop into national champions, including Tiznow, the 2000 Horse of the Year, and California Chrome, a national Hall of Fame racehorse. A close buddy recounted Harris’ response to the latter thoroughbred successful the 2014 Kentucky Derby.

The second California Chrome sprinted over the end line, tears streamed down Harris’ face.

“It was just knowing that his farm had such a major role,” mentioned his good buddy Doug Burge. “It was probably the most fun we ever had.”

Harris, who owned the multimillion-dollar agribusiness Harris Farms, has died. He was 81.

Those who knew Harris described him as an acclaimed rancher, farmer and horse-racing fanatic who devoted himself to his passions to the top. Harris Farms confirmed his death in a assertion shared on July 3. No particulars, including trigger of death, have been offered.

Harris was born on July 14, 1943, and resided in Fresno County all of his life. He earned a degree in agricultural manufacturing at UC Davis before serving in the U.S. Army for two years.

Harris took possession of Harris Farms following his father’s death in 1981. He oversaw all operations of the ranch, which encompasses a thriving farm that produces more than 30 sorts of crops including garlic, pistachios and wine grapes, as effectively as the horse-breeding operation, according to its web site. Harris Farms was identified for the meat it produced, but the cattle-raising portion of the business was offered in 2019.

Another offshoot of the business is the Harris Ranch Resort, a well-known pit stop midway from Los Angeles to San Francisco with a lodge and eating. “Aficionados of beef began stopping for choice-grade steak and eggs, or steak and almost anything, when the restaurant and coffee shop opened next to the freeway in 1977,” The Times wrote in 1995.

Harris nurtured a steadfast ardour for horse racing and the thoroughbred breeding industry in Northern California, according to associates and household. He was a former president and board member of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Assn. and served on the board of the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the National Jockey Club. According to those who labored with him, he formed the horse-racing industry into what it’s right now.

“He had a love for the land, everything from farming to raising horses,” mentioned Burge, the present president of the CTBA, who knew Harris as a mentor and buddy for more than 30 years.

Harris was a longtime, devoted advocate for the agricultural industry, according to Oscar Gonzalez, the vice chairman of the California Horse Racing Board who beforehand served as assistant secretary of Agriculture during the Biden administration.

“Mr. Harris was just a phone call away,” he mentioned. “When I was in Washington, D.C. … and I needed a point of reference or background information on an issue involving agriculture, or water or immigration, he was always somebody that had context in that background.”

He was also identified in political circles as a main Republican donor. He held a non-public fundraiser in 2024 attended by JD Vance, then the vice presidential nominee, as ABC 30 reported.

Most lately, Harris’ advocacy centered on reinstating dwell horse racing at the Big Fresno Fair. The proposal was in the end unsuccessful.

“We will never give up continuing this storied tradition of Fresno racing,” Harris mentioned on June 19, according to the Business Journal. “Today’s story is not the end — we will come back again next year.”

Justin Oldfield, a thoroughbred breeder and a chairman of the CTBA, mentioned that Harris wished everybody in the industry to achieve success, all the time offering mentorship and help to those who needed it.

“For as successful as a businessman as he was, you would have never have known it from the way he treated you,” Oldfield mentioned. “John was an extremely humble, down-to-earth individual that treated everyone with respect, treated everyone like they had value.”

He mentioned that he once went to a horse racing industry occasion honoring Harris with more than 3,000 attendees.

“I can’t even imagine how many people are gonna be at his funeral,” Oldfield mentioned.

Harris is survived by his spouse, Cookie, and others “whose lives were enriched by his strength of character and enduring compassion,” the assertion from Harris Farms mentioned.