Elizabeth Valando

2009 Record: (7-2-1-0)

2009 Earnings: $101,105

2009 Win %: 28% In-The-Money %: 42%

Born: in Fort Worth, Tex.
Residence: Greenwich, Conn. and Palm Beach, Fla.
Family: stepdaughter Patricia Meech; granddaughter Madeline
Racing Background: Introduced to racing through her late husband, Thomas, a music publisher ... Tommy joined Dogwood Stable and owned a share of Inlander, the steeplechase champion of 1987 ... Valando’s first purchase as sole owner was Fly So Free, who won the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Champagne Stakes ... Voted champion 2-year-old colt of 1990, Fly So Free also won the Florida Derby, Riva Ridge and Jim Dandy and earned $2,300,954 in his career ... “Tommy used to love to bet on the horses and would go up to Saratoga for a few weeks. At first, I would sit in the box and read magazines during the races, but that all changed after we bought Fly So Free. It was such a great thrill to watch him run. I became more involved and now love racing and breeding.”
Breeding/Racing Operation: Valando has continued to own and breed horses since her husband’s death in 1995 ... “I am so proud of her,” said Valando’s stepdaughter Patricia Meech. “She did a great job of carrying on after Dad died. Racing became her passion. We both know that Dad is looking down and feeling very proud.” ... She now owns a handful of horses who are in training with Barclay Tagg and eight broodmares in Kentucky ... The star of her small stable is the versatile Nobiz Like Shobiz, a homebred who has won graded stakes on both dirt and grass ... Valando chose the name to honor her late husband. “I had the rights to that name and was waiting for a horse like this one to use it,” Valando said ... Nobiz Like Shobiz created a buzz in his debut, winning by 10 3/4 lengths ... Second in the 2006 Champagne and victorious in the Remsen as a 2-year-old, Nobiz Like Shobiz captured the Wood Memorial and Holy Bull to emerge as one of the top contenders in the 2007 Kentucky Derby ... Nobiz Like Shobiz was the family’s first Kentucky Derby starter since Fly So Free in 1991 ... “Right now I feel like Tommy is with me,” she said in the days leading up to this year’s Derby. “He always seems close by. The only thing that keeps this from being a perfect experience is that he will not be sitting next to me.” ... Nobiz Like Shobiz was 10th in the Derby and then second in the Dwyer before winning three straight stakes on the turf, including the Jamaica Handicap (G2) ... Nobiz Like Shobiz, fourth in the Mile, was the first Breeders’ Cup starter to run under Elizabeth’s name ... Valando’s homebred filly Take the Cake won the Forward Gal at Gulfstream Park in 2002.