Applebite Farms

"Historical French Camp, the oldest community in San Joaquin County," boasts the sign at the edge of a small town situated a few miles south of Stockton and halfway between Interstate 5 and Highway 99. It was settled in 1844, at the terminus of the Oregon-California Trail, where French-Canadian trappers employed by the Hudson Bay Company began camping in the 1830s.

Head about a mile east of the city limits and you come to Applebite Farms, a site with ties to a family that goes back even further in California's history. Joan Rogers, a Santa Clara attorney who owns Applebite Farms and is a director of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, can claim the deepest of California roots. A member of her family, Jose Francisco Ortega, arrived here in 1769 with the first Spanish expedition to Alta California.

Her family has been part of the California landscape ever since. According to Rogers, her great-grandfather was the first physician in the Santa Clara Valley at the time of the Gold Rush. Her grandfather was a dairyman in the area, and her father practiced dentistry in Santa Clara, but always had an interest in agriculture. In 1939, he bought a parcel of land in French Camp and built a dairy farm. In 1973, it became the Thoroughbred breeding and lay-up facility known as Applebite Farms.

These days, the farm stands six stallions and may be moving into the national spotlight with Distinctive Cat. The horse had shown a lot of promise in training, but was injured and never raced. When Distinctive Cat entered stud at Applebite in 1997, he became the first son of Storm Cat to stand in California.

Like Storm Cat and his sons in other parts of the country, Distinctive Cat's handsome offspring are attracting top dollar in the sales ring. His daughter Distinctive Wish sold for $150,000 at the Del Mar yearling sale in August and he also had a $140,000 2-year-old.

Joan Rogers and Applebite Farms could enter the winner's circle on Cal Cup Day should Glittering Stone wins the Juvenile. Bred by the farm and now owned by King Arthur Farms and a partnership, this Cal-bred son of Glitterman broke his maiden most impressively during the summer and should be a juvenile to watch in this 1 1/16 mile event. Lusty Latin, an El Prado (Ire) colt now owned by Curt and Lila Lanning, was bred by Applebite and is also nominated for the Juvenile. Either way, Applebite Farms will have plenty of reasons to create California racing history on Nov. 3.