Watson and Weitman Performances LLC

2008 Record: (11-2-5-1)

2008 Earnings: $321,020

2008 Win %: 18% In-The-Money %: 72%

Owner(s): Karl Watson and Paul Weitman
Born: Watson: September 6, 1950; Kansas City, Mo.; Weitman: March 12, 1943, Springfield, Ga.
Residence: Tucson, Ariz.
Family: Watson: wife, Kathy; children, Karl A., Krista and Joseph. Weitman: wife, Betty; sons, Neal and Craig
Education: Weitman graduated from Valdosta State (Ga.) in 1964 with a B.A. in sociology and a minor in psychology ... Watson started college at Lawrenceburg in Kansas, but left school and began selling cars
Professional Background: Watson began selling cars in the Kansas City area ... Bought first dealership in 1981, selling Chevrolets and Mazdas in St. Joseph, Mo. ... Moved to Tucson in 1984 and bought a Chevrolet dealership ... Six or seven years later added a couple more dealerships in Albuquerque, N.M., which were later sold ... Owns Chevrolet and Infiniti dealerships in Tucson ... Weitman was a high school teacher and basketball coach for seven years in Millersville, Ga., before he started selling cars ... Bought a Buick dealership in Tucson in 1977 and has since added Lexus, Jaguar, Range Rover, Kia, Suzuki and Hummer dealerships
Racing Background: “When I worked in Omaha from 1976-81, I went to Ak-Sar-Ben with a friend named Ron Huber, who owned horses,” said Watson. ... Had horses with Jack Van Berg and Barry Knight before he teamed with Weitman and sent horses to Bob Baffert in the mid-1990s ... Weitman, who met the trainer through his brother, Bill Baffert, bought his first horse about 15 years ago
Racing Career: Midnight Lute, in whom Watson and Weitman were partners with Mike Pegram, brought them national acclaim by winning consecutive Breeders' Cup Sprint championships in 2007 and ’08 ... The threesome is set for another Breeders' Cup appearance with the G1 stakes-winning 2-year-old Lookin At Lucky in the upcoming Juvenile ... They bought unraced Midnight Lute privately in the spring of his 2-year-old year. Initially hampered by throat problems requiring surgery early in his career, Midnight Lute was named for former University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson. Fellow coach Jerry Tarkanian nicknamed Olsen "Midnight Lute" in reference to Olson's signing a recruit at the last minute that Tarkanian thought he had locked up ... The colt went on to become a multiple G1 winner and Eclipse Award sprinter for 2007 ... Watson and Weitman have enjoyed good fortune, also, with multiple stakes winners Da Stoops and Tough Tiz's Sis ... Watson credited bloodstock agent Bret Lindenbaum with finding Tough Tiz's Sis following a maiden victory at Hawthorne Park and recommending her for private purchase. “I took Bret to the Breeders' Cup (in 2006) and told him to find us a Derby horse,” said Watson. “He didn't, but he came up with Tough Tiz's Sis instead.” Tough Tiz’s Sis, a multiple Grade 1 winner, was seventh in the 2007 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic and was retired in September 2008 after she suffered the beginning of a condylar fracture following a workout ... Watson and Weitman think they have another good 2-year-old in Indian Firewater, with one win in two starts
Breeding/Racing Operation: The partners, sometimes including Pegram, generally have about a dozen Thoroughbreds in training with Baffert ... Also own four broodmares -- Dirty Diana, Thru n’ Thru, Casino Gold and Tough Tiz's Sis, all boarded at Hill 'n' Dale Farm in Kentucky, where Midnight Lute stands. ... Dirty Diana is the dam of Watson and Weitman’s Point Given colt Del Conte, who finished fourth in the 2008 G1 Norfolk Stakes, but was lost in a claiming race at Del Mar in 2009 ... Dirty Diana, Thru n' Thru and Tough Tiz's Sis are in foal to Midnight Lute, while Casino Gold was not bred this year.