On Track
Phil Hoedebeck combines his love of crunching numbers and competition in horse racing.
The Hoedebeck File
Raised in: Dickson, Okla., intersection of State Highway 177 and State Highway 199, about 10 miles east of Ardmore.
Age: 45
Company: Midwest Dental Equipment & Supply, Wichita Falls, Texas.
Territory: North Texas and southern Oklahoma.
Lives in: Wichita Falls
Noteworthy: Scorned by horses as a kid, he now has a minority interest in four Thoroughbreds.
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You could probably count on one hand the number of dental distributor sales reps with a CPA. After all, salespeople aren’t usually the number-crunching types. But Phil Hoedebeck, sales rep for Midwest Dental Equipment & Supply, Wichita Falls, Texas, is an exception. "I always liked numbers," he says. "In school, I liked the fact that everything was black and white, that there was a right way and a wrong way [to solve problems]."
But Hoedebeck is a competitor too. He played baseball and basketball in high school, and participates in the North Texas Amateur Baseball League today.
Given his love of numbers and competition, is it any wonder that Hoedebeck was drawn to horse racing? "[Picking horses] is one of the hardest things I’ve ever tried to do," he says. "If you get two winners out of 10, you’re doing well. And there are a ton of statistics to peruse" in the Daily Racing Form, he says. "It probably has to do with the same reason I went into accounting."
Last year, Hoedebeck advanced his interest in horse racing beyond merely watching (and wagering on) races. Today, he has a minority interest in four Thoroughbreds.
Hoedebeck was born in Dallas, but grew up in Dickson, Okla. He graduated from Dickson High and went to Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, on an academic scholarship. He graduated with an accounting degree in 1986 and decided to settle down in Wichita Falls. "It grew on me," he says of the city.
He went into banking and got his CPA. And after five years, he opened up his own accounting practice. But one year later, something happened. "I decided I didn’t like accounting." He didn’t like being inside all day, with his head down, working.
So, in 1993, when Hoedebeck learned that one of his clients - Matt LeVasseur, founder and owner of Midwest Dental Equipment & Supply in Wichita Falls - was looking for a sales rep, he threw his hat in the ring. "I had to convince Matt that with an accounting degree, I could sell," says Hoedebeck. The two agreed that Hoedebeck could come on board if he handled both accounting and sales. But Hoedebeck could indeed sell. In fact, after a year and a half, he focused solely on sales.
His accounting experience has suited him - and his customers - well. "As a CPA, you’re supposed to have your clients’ best interests in mind, and act with integrity," he says. "I apply that to dentists too. I want them to be able to trust me, to know that I have their best interests in mind when I recommend something to them." And for young dentists just starting out, he can offer a bit of business advice too. "They don’t get a lot of training in school on the business side [of running a dental practice]," he says. "I can offer them some help."
In the ensuing years, as Hoedebeck’s proficiency in sales grew, so too did his interest in horse racing.
First Impressions: When did you develop an interest in horses?
Phil Hoedebeck: My dad grew up on a farm in Oklahoma, and he had horses. And we had a couple of horses growing up. But they hated me. My sisters could mess with them, but when I came around, they’d try to bite me. We had a boarding kennel, and I enjoyed the dogs. But the horses, not so much. We did not get along.
First Impressions: Yet last year, you decided to invest in some Thoroughbreds. Why?
Hoedebeck: A friend of mine whom I had met playing baseball - Lee Greenspan - got into buying horses a year or two earlier, so we went in and bought a couple of yearlings [that is, 1-year-old Thoroughbreds]. Now they’re 2 (years old). Instead of buying a boat or a motorcycle, like some people do, I’ve put my money into buying these horses. [Owning horses] is my toy. I realize I probably will lose money on it. But I enjoy it.
First Impressions: How do you evaluate a horse you’re thinking about buying?
Hoedebeck: The Thoroughbred industry has all kinds of statistics on sires, including how they did as runners. Both I (from the betting side) and Lee (from the breeding side) have an idea of horses we like. (Lee had a couple of racing horses prior to this.) I like turf horses, that is, horses that run on grass. That’s what we went in looking for.
First Impressions: What’s the deal with turf horses?
Hoedebeck: Usually, a horse is better on either turf or dirt - one or the other. A lot has to do with breeding. And it’s kind of like baseball players - some are better on artificial turf, some are better on natural grass. And turf racing appeals to me. It’s a narrower course, usually a mile long. It’s what they call a "route." There’s rarely a turf sprint. So there’s a lot more strategy in placing a horse, rating your horse. Usually it comes down to two or three horses at the wire. To me, it’s a lot more exciting to watch.
First Impressions: Talk about the horses in which you have the minority interest.
Hoedebeck: Two are from the same sire - Van Nistlerooy, a successful turf horse in Europe (who was named after a Dutch soccer player). We got a colt and a filly from his second crop of offspring.
First Impressions: If I wanted to buy a horse today, where would I go?
Hoedebeck: We bought two of ours at the Fasig-Tipton yearling sale at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie [Texas] in Dallas in August 2007. I own 10 percent of one and 20 percent of the other. We bought another at the Louisiana-bred auction in October 2007; I own 40 percent of that horse. And regarding the fourth, I bought an interest in it after Lee had gotten involved six or seven months before.
First Impressions: How are the horses being trained?
Hoedebeck: We sent ours to a trainer in East Texas with whom Lee and I were familiar. The horses are boarded and trained on a farm about five hours from Wichita Falls. We think a couple will be ready to race in June [2008]. The others still need a little time to develop.
First Impressions: How do you know a horse is ready to race?
Hoedebeck: You pretty much rely on the trainer’s expertise. You want to make sure their bones - especially in their legs - and their muscles are developed well enough to support racing. We’ll probably start out racing our horses at Louisiana Downs in Shreveport.
First Impressions: How do you select a jockey?
Hoedebeck: Usually, your trainer tries to line up your jockey for you. You’d be surprised, but different jockeys are better at different types of races, just like horses. Some are better at sprints, some at turf races, some at dirt races. So you want to know their specialties and how they match up to your horse.
First Impressions: Where do the horses "live" during the season?
Hoedebeck: During the racing season, they’ll be kept at the track. Horses generally run the same track all season, unless you get into the high-dollar stuff. If ours turns out to be a Stakes horse, we’ll run them in two or three different tracks within the region.
First Impressions: What are the chances of your horses being winners?
Hoedebeck: We think we have one that could be a Louisiana-bred stakes horse. Most states, like Texas and Louisiana, have state-bred programs. If your horse was born in that state, they have races just for those horses. That’s what we plan on doing. Most Thoroughbreds are bred and raised to race, but many don’t ever get there. They’re so fragile. Either they get hurt, or they’re just too slow. I’m hoping all four of ours will race at some level.
First Impressions: Can you talk about how you prepare a horse for his or her first race?
Hoedebeck: The trainer and his staff will walk him up to the paddock between races, to get him used to that and the crowd. They’ll take him where he will be saddled. They’ll do a little bit of schooling. The horse will be nervous; that’s part of it. No matter how talented they are, you don’t know how they’ll handle the crowd, the noise, the new experience.
First Impressions: Who’s your favorite horse of all time?
Hoedebeck: I saw Kandid Glen race his first turf race - his maiden race. He got into trouble. But I went back and bet on him in his next race, and he won. I followed his career. He wound up winning multiple Stakes races. War Emblem was another. I saw him run as a 3-year-old early in 2002. I picked him as my Derby horse. He wound up going to the Derby that year … and winning. [He also won the Preakness Stakes in 2002.]
First Impressions: Favorite jockey?
Hoedebeck: Kent Desmoureaux, a nationally known jockey. A good turf jockey, he rides at the very highest level - Belmont, Gulfstream [Hallandale, Fla.]. [Born in 1970, Desmoureaux holds the U.S. record for most races won in a single year - 598, in 1989.]
First Impressions: Favorite horse movie?
Hoedebeck: "Seabiscuit," of course. As far as the track experience goes, "Let it Ride" (1989) with Richard Dreyfuss is a great movie.
First Impressions: In 2006, 22 horses died racing in Arlington Park outside Chicago. So the owners of the track replaced the dirt with Polytrack, a synthetic material. Will more race tracks convert to Polytrack?
Hoedebeck: The hope is that the synthetic track will be easier on the horses. Dirt tracks have inconsistencies; they can have soft spots in them - the equivalent of little potholes, which you can’t necessarily see. The synthetic track has a little more give to it, so it won’t wear out horses’ lower legs.
First Impressions: It’s been said that the racing industry is having difficulty attracting young race-goers. What does racing need to do to remain viable and attract a new generation of fans?
Hoedebeck: Horse racing has always promoted the gambling aspect of it. But if you’re a young person, you probably don’t have a lot of disposable money. So to me, you have to promote racing to young people and families. You have to have something else for them to do besides bet, or you have to promote the racing aspect of the event (instead of merely the wagering). For $2 and a lawn chair, you can watch horse racing all night. A lot of tracks have stuff for kids to do - playgrounds, petting zoos. You have to find things to appeal to the non-wagerer. Some states have approved casinos at the track, and that has attracted people. Lone Star has Happy Hour on Fridays. Some tracks have dollar days, when you can get dollar Cokes and hot dogs. Some tracks have live bands playing between races. To me, you’ve got to make it like going to a basketball game, where there’s something going on the entire time.
Sibebar:
Horse facts: Answers to your horse questions, by Phil Hoedebeck
Did you know that:
- A horse’s birthday is considered to be Jan. 1.
- Most horses are born between January and May (called the foaling season).
- Most horses race every three weeks to a month - or about 10 times a year. Horses that run much more than that - as many as 20 times - might very well have some physical problems, so the owner is not protecting them as much as healthy ones.
- Colts (male horses under age 4) typically run against colts, while fillies (female horses under 4) typically compete against fillies. Occasionally, you’ll find a filly able to compete with the colts. In fact, the winner of the 2007 Belmont Stakes, Rags to Riches, was a filly. (In fact, she was the first filly to win the final leg of the Triple Crown since 1905.)
- Stakes-caliber Thoroughbreds - particularly colts - race for two or three years. Fillies and mares (the term for female horses 4 years and over) may race for five, six or seven years. The reason is that the stallion (male horse 4 years or older) can sire many horses in a year (and hence, is valuable as a stud horse), while a mare can only give birth once a year (because the typical gestation period is 340 days), and hence, is more valuable racing than foaling.
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