By Mark
Ratzky, publicity – Cal Expo Harness
Saturday’s night’s 11th race at Cal Expo is named for Dr. Robert
Franklin Goodbary, DVM, who passed away on December 28, at his ranch in
Clements, California.
In his final days he was surrounded by family and friends at home,
where he candidly would say he was “Just chuggin’ along”. Known to
everyone as Doc, he was born August 3, 1934 in Chandler, Oklahoma to Omer
“Snip” and Olga Mae Goodbary. His father worked as a ferrier, moving his family
from Oklahoma to Yuba City, California in the 1940’s. His mother was a homemaker.
Doc Goodbary graduated from Yuba City
High School in 1952. While in high school, he worked as the only paperboy
who delivered the San Francisco Examiner and San Francisco Chronicle to Yuba
City and Marysville. He also worked for Dr. Sam Fisher as a kennel boy,
and later worked with larger animals, primarily cows.
After graduating from high school, he
attended college at Michigan State and graduated in 1958 with a Doctorate in
Veterinarian Medicine. This is where he met Noel Lassen, whom he married
and they had two sons, David and Richard Goodbary. During his summers off
from college, he came back home to work at the Del Monte Cannery as the Floor
Foreman, overseeing about 35 employees.
After graduating from college, Doc moved
back to California, where he began his career as a Professor at the University
of California-Davis, then opened a small animal Veterinarian Clinic. He
also owned and operated the Buena Mora Ranch in Pleasanton and later a ranch in
Clements.
Doc Goodbary worked as the Thoroughbred
and Quarter Horse Race Track Veterinarian in Northern and Southern California
racetracks, operating on and treating many a racehorse in his day. In
Northern California, he worked many years at Bay Meadows, Golden Gate Fields
and Tanforan racetracks, as well as the Northern California Fairground circuit
that included Cal Expo, Stockton, Pleasanton, Santa Rosa and Fresno. In
Southern California, he worked many years at the Los Alamitos and Santa Anita
racetracks.
Doc Goodbary enjoyed watching football,
gardening (at home and even at the racetrack), playing cards and winning, loved
dancing and making his annual treks to Sayulita, Mexico to vacation with family
and friends. He liked being in charge and doing it his way, the right
way. No one was ever a stranger to him. He was greatly respected, loved
and adored by family, friends and colleagues who knew him. They all were
considered family.
Doc Goodbary is survived by his wife, Jeannette Goodbary
of Clements; his son, David Goodbary of St. Louis, Missouri; his brother and
sister-in-law, George and Ginger Goodbary of Marysville, California; and
grandchildren, Elizabeth, Connor, Dylan, Brooke, Ryan, Amanda, Alex and
Anthony; and many nephews and nieces.
He was preceded in death by his father
and mother, “Snip” and Olga Mae Goodbary; his two sisters, Mary Ann Yerzy and
Donna Sue Prevatt; his son, Richard Goodbary; and special friend, Dorothy
Stringer, who was his mother-in-law.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be
made to this animal rescue: The Grace Foundation P.O. Box 4692 El Dorado
Hills, CA 95762
Ideal
Smile’s connections grinning ear-to-ear
Ideal Smile is one of the hottest horses on the grounds,
having rattled off three straight 1:54 and change victories for owners Scott
and Lisa Ehrlich and driver/trainer Steve Wiseman.
Two of those decisions have come from a stalking position,
while last week’s tally was accomplished in coast-to-coast fashion without an
anxious moment as the son of American Ideal made 6-5 look like a belated Xmas
gift. He’s back in action Saturday night with a second-tier starting position.
Scott Ehrlich related, “Ideal Smile caught my eye in the
early part of last year here when he
showed very good speed on the front-end for Mike Eaton, carrying it
well most of the time. This impressed me because I feel that the bias at Cal
Expo almost always favors closers.
“Fast-forward to last October when Mike invited my family to
his farm to jog some horses when we made a trip to New England. By luck, I
got to jog Smile and I liked the way he went. Mike said he as for
sale, but that was about the end of it, or so I thought.
“About a month later, Mike called me and said he was for
sale as part of a package deal with Surprisingly Sweet. By pure luck, I
had watched a race of hers and loved the way she closed. Then
after watching more of her previous races, she fit the type of horse I
love and we made the deal.
“Since getting them, both of them have required some time to
get built up to where they should be physically/weight wise, especially Smile.
Steve and Kathie Wiseman, and their fine crew, including Smile’s great
Caretaker, Mike Fowler, have done an outstanding job of getting them to
where we want them to be. And while they're much closer, they aren't
there yet, which would lead you to hopefully believe that better things are yet
to come.”
SATURDAY
NIGHT WILL FEATURE FREE ADMISSION AFTER 4 P.M. WITH $1 BEER, COFFEE, HOT DOGS
AND SODA. HANDICAPPER DAVE BROWER WILL ALSO BE LIVE ON SITE BOTH FRIDAY AND
SATURDAY, SO BE SURE TO STOP BY THE SIMULCAST CENTER AND SAY HELLO.
