A Family Tradition Above: Dorothy’s grandmother on her Saddlebred mare  Below: Dorothy competing on her  combined training horse at an event in Las Vegas, NV.

 

About us

A self-described “born horse-nut” hailing from a long line of horsemen and women, Dorothy and her family has long been a part of the racing scene.  Her great-grandfather owned many racehorses, in full or in partnership, but his most notable horse was the one he sold too soon-the great Exterminator!  An attendee at 50 editions of the Kentucky Derby, he only missed one to attend a friend’s funeral.  Dorothy’s grandmother carried on the family tradition by becoming an accomplished rider of both Thoroughbreds and Saddlebreds.

In 1973, she first met Elmer Heubeck of Hobeau Farms while on a family trip to Ocala and the racing bug took a firm hold.  Elmer told her to come back after high school and he’d give her a job...and that’s just what she did!

A part of the Florida Thoroughbred community from her high school graduation until she left Florida in 1985, Dorothy was involved with several top horses of the era including Darn That Alarm and Smile.  In 1985 Dorothy left the state of Florida to pursue a new area of the horse industry by training trail service horses for the National Forest Service in Colorado.  Dorothy also competed in the local combined training and showjumping circuits with her beloved Thoroughbreds.

 

 

 

Dorothy Snowden

Riding High!  Dorothy on a Fox Trotter in the upper elevations of the Rockies—this photos was taken in July!

 

In the mid 1990’s, Dorothy changed gears again and moved to western South Dakota where she continued to compete and soon began to stand a few Thoroughbred stallions, most notably Northern Ocean  (by Greek Answer) and Double Cash (by Raja Baba). During this time, Dorothy resumed her other passion, painting, and completed a degree in Art and Photography at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota.  An accomplished plein art painter, her work is now found in galleries across the Black Hills and in Lexington, Kentucky.  Her website is www.horsecreekart.com

In the late 1990’s, Dorothy ran an “Horse for Sale”  ad which attracted the attention of Thoroughbred trainer, Dale Simanton.  They met, their ideas meshed and soon after the current incarnation of Horse Creek Thoroughbreds was born!  In 1999, while on a trip to Keeneland to look for yearlings, they met John O’Meara of Milestone Farm and with his insistence, turned their focus from buying yearlings to race back to breeding their own.  That chance meeting turned into a firm friendship and soon after, John O’Meara directed their attention to a stallion he had recently retired and Finn McCool found his way to South Dakota.  Years have gone by and many mares and yearling have made the long trip from Kentucky to South Dakota and back again and it is this friendship that allows Horse Creek Thoroughbreds to continue to upgrade the breeding and racing stock of their herd.

 

Dale Simanton

The Way to the Winner’s Circle Above: A young Dale celebrating a victory at Glasgow, MT. Below: Dale, on the outside, gets there first!  Below Left: Dale working with a client’s two-year-old in training.

 

Partners in Crime: Dale Simanton (right) and John O’Meara of Milestone Farm  handicapping the races at Keeneland.

 

After outgrowing the jockey’s saddle at age 20, Dale traded his riding license for the training version and started off with a bang by saddling the incredibly fast Quarter Horse filly, El Chickadee.  The top ranked two-year old Quarter Horse of her year in Montana, she won her first three starts for Dale.  He went on to hold training licenses in 6 states and trained numerous winners in both Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred races.  Also an accomplished farrier, Dale has shod his own horses for over 20 years.   As the breeding side of Horse Creek Thoroughbreds took root, Dale quit training in 2000 to focus his energy on the breeding and sales preparation side of the racing industry.

Growing up the son of successful Montana trainer, Dale had few doubts of what he wanted to be in life and at the tender age of 12, he took the first step on what has turned out to be an exciting journey in the racing world.  That first step was into a stirrup and that stirrup was attached to a racehorse and that very first race turned out to be a winning one!  Firmly hooked from that point on, Dale went on to jockey his father’s horses (many of which had been traded for hay with the legendary Johnny Longden)  throughout the Western region; even tying for the riding title at Fort Benton, Montana-only to lose to official title and the buckle on a coin toss!