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 FINDING
YOUR NICHE: Race Track Lifer Kathy Bui Finds Success and Fulfillment
- By PETE HERRERA for SureBetSUNLAND PARK, N.M. - January 2012 - Sometimes when opportunity knocks, it has a familiar ring. It goes right to the heart. It takes you back to your roots. It lends credence to the idea that things happen for a reason. Take the case of horse racing lifer Kathy Bui. Seven years ago, Kathy was at a tough spot in her life. A single mother, she was raising her two young sons on income from what amounted to a part-time job in the press box at Sunland Park. “I was going through a divorce,” says Kathy. “I had two kids, a house payment and a car payment. I was making $300 a week. I thought, what the heck am I going to do?” Having been around a racetrack all of her life, Kathy decided to stay in familiar territory, even though the decision she was about to make would take her into unchartered waters. “I had always wanted to be an (jockey’s) agent,” says Kathy. “I wanted to at least give it a shot.” A shot indeed. Today, Kathy is one of the most respected and successful agents in the business. Her reputation as a consummate professional with a personality and work ethic to match is hailed by her riders and the trainers she works with. “For me, she’s the best agent around,” says Quarter Horse trainer “Poppy” Aldavaz. “She knows what she’s doing and gets along with everybody. I think of her like my sister.” Kathy is the agent for Salvador Martinez, Aldavaz’s first-call jockey. She also represents quarter horse riders Esgar Ramirez and Vicente Grajeda and her brother, longtime Thoroughbred rider Glen Murphy. It’s an impressive foursome of riders and, along with Kathy, a team that frequently finds the winner’s circle. Ramirez and Martinez, both in their 20s, have emerged as two of the top young Quarter Horse riders in the Southwest. Ramirez won the All American Futurity two years ago aboard Mr Piloto and now consistently picks up rides with trainer Paul Jones, one of the country’s top conditioners. Ramirez, who is in much demand among Quarter Horse trainers, says his relationship with Kathy is a good one. “She has everything set up for you. I don’t have any problems,” he tells SureBet. “She never misses going to work and is very attentive to her job. Whatever you want, she says yes. Where I want to go ride or which horse I want to ride, she always says yes, never no.’’ Sal Martinez won the $1.1 million Texas Classic in November at Lone Star Park aboard the 2-year-old Sure Shot B. Grajeda, who turned 21 in November, is coming off a solid 2011 season. Murphy has ridden horses throughout the country and played a significant role in helping Kathy launch her career as a jockey agent. Initially, though, Glen was less than wild about the idea. “I sat my mom and my brother down,” says Kathy. “My brother had just broken his leg at Hawthorne and I had gone to Chicago to pick him up and drive him home. I told them, ‘I can’t support the kids on what I’m doing, so I want to be an agent.’ My brother looked at me and as seriously as he could said, ‘Over my dead body.’” Glen, who is 11 months younger than Kathy, said it was an instinctive reaction from a protective sibling. “It’s a male-dominated sport, and I didn’t want my sister to be subjected to a business that can be harsh,” he said. “Really, my sister can take anything that is thrown at her, so I shouldn’t have worried about it.” Maureen Murphy took her daughter’s decision in stride. “I knew she could do it,” says Maureen. “It didn’t faze me at all. Her heart has always been in racing and thank God she’s as smart as she is. Smart, strong and integrity are words that describe my daughter.” Kathy started her agent’s career at Sunland Park that winter with Glen and his broken right leg at her side. They rode a golf cart to make it easier for Glen to get around as the duo went barn-to-barn. “The first couple of mornings, it was freezing cold, but Kathy was determined,” says Glen. “She’s great under pressure.” Thoroughbred rider Quyet Bui was the first jockey to sign on with Kathy. They teamed up to win the Sunland Park Handicap that season. “From then on I was hooked,” says Kathy. Bui and Kathy eventually married and have a 4-year-old son, Jaxon. The couple recently divorced. She picked up Esgar Ramirez’s book the next summer after his agent left New Mexico to return to Oklahoma to take care of his pregnant wife. The third jockey to sign on was the late Mark Villa. Kathy also was the agent of Quarter Horse jockey Oscar Hernandez when he rode Heartswideopen to victory in the 2007 All American Futurity. While Kathy had been around horse racing most of her life, the learning curve for becoming a jockey’s agent was brutal. “I knew absolutely nothing,” she said. “I thought I knew a lot, but I didn’t know anything. I was the cheerleader in the grandstand for my brother’s win pictures. That was about the extent.” The volume of knowledge Kathy had to acquire was enormous. She concedes she initially had no idea that there were different classes of maidens and had trouble grasping the concept of non-winners of two (races) and non-winners of three. A jock agent’s life is a collage of talents—from handicapper to public relations to mediator. It’s a job description, says her brother, that fits Kathy’s persona. “Kathy is a good people person,” says Glen. “She’s very competitive and wants to win. But she also makes the workplace fun. She creates a great atmosphere.” Kathy’s day typically starts by 6 a.m. She’s on the backside by then, checking with trainers on which horses her riders need to gallop or work out that day. An agent also helps the riders decide which horses to ride and how to select races in which those horses have the best chance of winning. “Learning where horses belong to win is knowledge you have to gain,” she said. “And you have to be at the races every day to watch the races. You can’t just go out in the morning, go home and not pay attention to what’s going on. You have to be a handicapper basically.” Kathy and her riders also confer frequently on which horses they want to continue to ride, which horses they want to drop. “Your riders have to have a good opinion of what these horses are, and Esgar and Sal, once they get on a horse, they know if that horse is worth continuing with or let’s move on,” said Kathy. “Vicente is coming along in that area. Your rider has to be able to tell you, hey, this horse isn’t much or this is a good one, and we need to stay on this one.” Communication and compromise are crucial. “I say, this is our business guys. You have an opinion on where you should go and I have an opinion. Hopefully those opinions jive. Most of the time they do. My guys respect me, they trust me and we communicate. That is so important in this job.” In retrospect, Kathy was destined to be involved in racing in one form or another. She was born in Springfield, Colo., to parents who were already involved in the sport. Her dad, Doug Murphy, was a trainer and her mother worked as the horsemen’s bookkeeper at Centennial in Denver and later in the racing office at Sunland Park. But her family’s connection to racing runs deeper than that. Her grandfather, Willie Hayhurst, was a steeplechase rider in England who later trained horses and eventually became a jock’s agent. Kathy’s uncles include the late jockey Larry Byers and former jockey and longtime steward Richard Lidberg. As a 16-year-old high school student Kathy worked the switchboard at Sunland. After graduation she worked summers at Ruidoso for the licensing office of the New Mexico Racing Commission while attending Texas Tech. But Lubbock and the idea of a degree in business didn’t hold the same attraction as the racetrack. She dropped out after two years and got a job with the New Mexico Horse Breeders Association. Even then, her mom understood. “She knew I was hard-headed and I didn’t know what I wanted to do or be, but I’ve always been a race track person” says Kathy, who also has worked for Equibase, the horse racing service that provides charts, results, entries and other information for tracks coast to coast. These days, Kathy’s life is more hectic than ever. Her cell phone rings constantly — she gets worried if it doesn’t — and she says all of the traveling involved is one of the toughest parts of her job. Most weeks, she gets one day off. But it’s a job that provides a very good living and a sense of security for Kathy and her three sons, Jaxon, 16-year-old Rhan and 15-year-old Riley. Her earnings from the All American Futurity win by Ramirez alone totaled $25,000. There are, she notes, other perks besides the money. “It works for me as a single mother. I can pick my kids up at school and my schedule is flexible. I also have a strong family. I couldn’t do what I do without my mom’s help.” Above all, Kathy has found what so often helps define one’s life. “I found my niche,” she says with a smile. “I’m successful. My life is easier. I can take care of my kids better. You are totally self-fulfilled. I have a confidence now that I always knew I had.” | ||
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