Harry Aleo

Harry Aleo Deceased

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Born: December 7, 1919 in Noe Valley, Calif.
Residence: San Francisco, Calif.
Family: daughters Carolyn, Valerie and Terry; three grandchildren
Professional Background: Real estate agency owner … Played baseball at San Francisco Junior College (now City College) with future New York Yankees Jerry Coleman and Charlie Silvera ... Signed a minor-league contract as a third baseman with the Brooklyn Dodgers ... During spring training in 1940, he pitched to Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio, making the Yankee Clipper foul out to third base ... His baseball career was cut short due to an arm injury … Aleo still has the letter releasing him from the Brooklyn Dodgers from Branch Rickey … Was drafted by the U.S. Army following the attack on Pearl Harbor and eventually fought with the 87th Infantry in France, Germany and the Ardennes campaigns, including the Battle of the Bulge with General Patton's 3rd Army … Following the conclusion of World War II, he began working part-time at a real estate firm. Six months later, he started his own real estate and insurance brokerage firm named Twin Peaks Properties in 1947 … Sixty years later, Aleo still shows up to work daily at the company
Racing Background: Became interested in owning Thoroughbreds after a former son-in-law gave him an article titled “How to make money when your horse loses.” ... Began buying horses as a hobby in 1979 and met trainer Greg Gilchrist shortly thereafter … His colors mirror the San Francisco Giants – bright orange with black trim – and he usually names his horses after landmarks and images of San Francisco such as Sutro Tower, Frisco Fog and Baker Beach
Breeding/Racing Operation: Best known as owner of 2005 champion sprinter Lost in the Fog … Gilchrist had urged Aleo to increase his financial commitment to racing and Aleo was looking for a horse good enough to “take me back East to run.” Aleo was the underbidder when Lost in the Fog went through the Ocala Breeders' 2-year-old sale in March ’04 and when the son of Lost Soldier did not meet his reserve, bought him privately a few weeks later for $140,000 … Lost in the Fog won his first ten career starts at ages two and three. Horse and owner became popular for their frequent cross-country trips and Aleo’s refusal, despite overwhelming offers, to sell the horse ... "What the hell would I do that for?” he answered gruffly. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for a horse like that.” ... Lost in the Fog lost for the first time in the ’05 Breeders’ Cup Sprint, but came back the following year to win the Aristides Breeders’ Cup … Later that summer Lost in the Fog was diagnosed with inoperable cancer and was euthanized on Sept. 17, 2006 … Two weeks later Golden Gate, his home base, had a day-long celebration of the colt’s life, and in June 2007, inaugurated the Lost in the Fog Stakes for 2-year-olds ... Has recently been buying four to six juveniles per year at 2-year-old auctions in Florida and Maryland ... It was out of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale at Timonium in May 2005 that Aleo, represented by Gilchrist, went to $140,000 for Smokey Stover. The son of Put It Back has reached the top of the sprint division in 2007 winning five of six starts, four of them in stakes … Ironically, his one loss this year came when he finished third in Calder’s Smile Sprint Handicap, the same race which one year earlier was Lost in the Fog’s last start ... Noting the unavoidable comparisons between the two Florida-breds, Aleo says “What are the odds of lightning hitting twice like that? I must be doing something right." ... Aleo also campaigned graded stakes winner Victorina and stakes winners Beyond Brilliant, Taraval, Frisco Belle, and Minutes Away, the 1985 Northern California horse of the year … Aleo, Gilchrist and jockey Russell Baze have teamed together with a couple notable runners in 2008: High Resolve, a winner of her first five starts, and multiple stakes-winning Vicarino.