March 2000 California Thoroughbred

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March 2000

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Scott and Leslie Rion

By John Harrell

Over the past 10 years, Scott Rion has developed a reputation for finding Central Kentucky stallions that have been lost in the shuffle and transforming them into successful California sires.

But ask him about his success, and the fun-loving Rion changes his voices from a deep, Kentucky drawl into a lilting, neo-Clinton model. "I'm not worthy, it's just good clients," he says.

rion.gif (37821 bytes) There is more to the story than just good clients, however. Rion has a knack. Stallions are like National Basketball Association rookies: there are high draft picks that are given plenty of time and opportunities to succeed, then there are those that need to be in the right locale to develop and deliver their skills. Rion works with the equine version of the latter category, finding the right stallions to fit into the California breeding program.

"Scott has always asked what type of stallions we're looking for," said John Zamora, owner of J Z Stock Farm near Temecula. "I tell him what I want and then he goes out and finds a stallion for me in Central Kentucky. I told him I want a Mr. Prospector and he gets me a Mr. Prospector. I told him I wanted an outcross to most California horses, and he comes up with High Brite.

"Nobody in California understands how J Z Stock Farm gets the stallions it does. It's fantastic when you've got somebody working with you and for you and he's not really on your payroll."

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Rion's fingerprints are all over the 1999 list of leading stallions in California. According to Thoroughbred Times' earnings list, horses Rion helped ship to California were third (Olympio-left), seventh (Tricky Creek), and ninth (High Brite-right) on the list.
The secret says Rion, who operates an advertising agency in Lexington, is understanding the often impatient mindset of the modern commercial breeder.

"I always tell people (my success) has fallen in my lap, but after years of perseverance in the industry, I've learned to keep things stirred up," he said. "I always look for a stallion whose time is kind of up here. That's especially been the case the last five or six years with so many younger horses coming in and people wanting to breed to younger horses.

"There are older stallions, 12-, 13-years-old, but still have eight or 10 years left. Those are the ones I like. But they've got to have good statistics that a regional farm can advertise."

Added Zamora: "In Kentucky, they give up pretty quickly on a stallion, after three or four years. It's great to have somebody there always looking out for you. It's helped my farm totally and everything I've brought out here (through Rion) has been very successful."

Rion began carving this niche for himself in the late 1980s when he was an advertising sales representative for Thoroughbred Times. One of his clients, Art McCollum, became the driving force in Rion's career sideline.

"I used to produce his ads for him and he always said he'd like to move a stallion from here out there," he said. "Art said he thought he and his partners could come up with some money if I could find them a stallion."

The stallion Rion came up with was Summing, whose claim to fame on the racetrack was spoiling Pleasant Colony's Triple Crown bid in the 1981 Belmont Stakes. At the end of the decade, the sire of 1987 champion juvenile filly Epitome was standing at Jonabell Farm near Lexington.

Rion made a deal to sell Summing to McCollum and partners for $100,000 in 1991. Summing, who now stands at Getaway Thoroughbred Farms near Romoland, has sired the likes of graded-stakes placed Select Few and 1998 Alameda County Futurity winner Adios Bill Silic while in California.

"I heard through the grapevine that I could get the horse moved," Rion said. "I put together an offer for the horse and got it done. Like every stallion I've ever shipped out there, they weren't especially for sale. But you learn to realize that everyone of them are for sale."

It was pretty soon after that Zamora and Rion began working together on stallion relocations. "When I realized
the opportunity was out there I was also doing ads for J Z Stock Farm," Rion said. "Right after that I got Strike Gold and High Brite out there."

Rion stayed at the Times for a couple more years, than worked at the Blood-Horse for another year before he decided
it was time to further his industry education. To do that, he went to work for Pope McLean Jr. at Crestwood Farm near Lexington as a bloodstock consultant.

"All my knowledge of what goes on on the inside is due to Pope McLean," he said.

In 1995, Rion returned to his roots, creating Rion Advertising Agency. Crestwood is a client, as is Kentucky farms Wafare and Mare Haven and prominent Kentucky owner-breeder Robert "Country" Roberts. Ironically, Rion said he handles just California clients in his advertising business.

But there is always the stallion re-location side of the business to keep Rion active in California. His skill in shrewdness in finding quality stallions in Kentucky and relocating them to California has advanced his reputation as a knowledgable member of the Thoroughbred industry. It has also given Rion a reputation for fairness he said he does not take for granted.
"I'm known as someone you can strike a horse deal with from start to finish," he said. "It's helped my business. It's mainly helped me in non-monetary ways by giving me a reputation."

"Scott and I have a great relationship," Zamora added. "He's a great agent. He always helps me out when I come to Kentucky to look at horses and stallions."

While the Thoroughbred business has proven to be rewarding to Rion, he also understands the pressures that naturally develop working in an industry with so much inherent risk. That is why his Saturday schedule usually has pencilled in: Band practice, 3 p.m.-to-8 p.m. When Rion isn't adding fresh blood to the California stallion roster, he is pounding the skins as a drummer for the oddly named Central Kentucky rock band The Quack.

"We probably play 20 or 25 times a year," he said. "It all kind of peaked when we were booked to play in Tampa when the University of Kentucky played in the Outback Bowl (last year)."

Rion, who dreamed of being a professional musician when he was growing up, stumbled into the band when he casually mentioned to an acquaintance that he played drums.