Owner of a top Kentucky Derby contender displays love for basketball in every race

Lee Searing fell in love with horse racing before he made it out of elementary school.

As a young boy growing up in southern California, trips to the track were a cherished family tradition for the owner of one of this year’s top Kentucky Derby contenders.

“I started going to the racetrack with my father and my mother and my grandfather when I was 8 years old, so I didn’t miss many weekends at the track,” Searing told the Herald-Leader in a phone interview. “I have very wonderful memories with my father and my grandfather and my mother with me and my brothers going to the races at Del Mar, Hollywood Park and Santa Anita.”

Searing, 73, is president of Searing Industries — the family business founded by his father which specializes in industrial tubing. He parlayed his passion for racing into a second career as a successful horse owner. Along with his wife, Susan, Searing owns C R K Stable. Lee and Susan, who met in high school and have been married for nearly 50 years, named the stable in honor of their three children: Christina, Richard and Katherine.

They’ve claimed their fair share of success in the industry, as C R K Stable has earned nearly $14 million over the years. But the Searings have a serious shot at joining elite company at Churchill Downs on Saturday, when their prized Thoroughbred Honor A. P. will likely be among the favorites to win the 146th Kentucky Derby.

A massive horse who is also somehow light on his hooves, Honor A. P. secured his spot at Churchill with a victory in the Santa Anita Derby in June, charging to the front in the stretch and easily fending off heavy favorite and fellow Kentucky Derby contender Authentic.

“My partners and a lot of other people feel like this is a very special horse,” Searing said. “I think as good as he’s been doing, he has an unbelievable shot at running really well in the Derby.”

‘Thank God we bought him’

In 2017, the Searings bought a horse named Hollywood Girl at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. They quickly fell in love with the dark brown filly.

“She’s a beautiful, absolutely gorgeous horse,” Lee Searing said.

A year later, one of Hollywood Girl’s siblings was put up for auction. That horse was Honor A. P., and bloodstock agent David Ingordo knew the Searings would be deeply interested in adding the brother of their beloved filly to the stable.

“David called and said, ‘Lee, this is her half-brother out of Honor Code.’ I said, ‘Send me the pictures,’” Searing recalled.

Searing told Ingordo to bid for Honor A. P. on his behalf. He set a budget of $500,000, but that clearly wasn’t a hard commitment. He told Ingordo he wanted to remain on the phone with him during the auction in case the horse’s price exceeded his “limit.” Of course, it did.

“It’s one thing to think you can buy a horse for a certain price, but it’s another thing to continue to have to say ‘we’re going to do one more bid,’ Searing said. “It’s funny, because I think we said that about 10 times before it was over, because we absolutely wanted that horse. And thank God we bought him ... If you combine the athletic ability of this horse with his ability to go the distance, we bought ourselves an unbelievable athlete.”

It took a final bid of $850,000 to obtain Honor A. P. That was a far cry from Searing’s first foray into the business, when as an 18-year-old he partnered with his father to buy his first horse.

“It was a $1,000 investment in a horse named Secret Touch,” Searing said. “He won his next three races. So that was, for me, a big deal.”

Searing has saddled many more successful Thoroughbreds over the years, including Grade 1 winner Switch, who Searing said “became a wonderful broodmare.”

Also among Searing’s favorite horses are Kobe’s Back and Midcourt. Their names, along with Searing’s habit of outfitting his horses and riders in purple and yellow, offer a less-than-subtle hint about another of his sports passions.

‘I developed a passion’

As one might expect of someone who came of age in southern California playing all manner of sports, Searing is a big basketball fan. He grew up cheering for a succession of iconic Los Angeles Lakers, but his fandom reached new heights in 1996 after the team made a draft-day trade to bring an 18-year-old future superstar to town.

“When Kobe Bryant came to the Lakers I developed a passion for going and watching Kobe play,“ Searing said. “As a fan I go all the way back to Jerry West and Elgin Baylor and a lot of the great Lakers; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain. But, Kobe will always be my favorite.”

Searing bought Lakers season tickets and was a mainstay at the team’s home games throughout Bryant’s career.

“I saw most all of their championship games, I saw half of their games each year he played.”

Searing even rubbed elbows with the man who is perhaps the most famous Lakers fan in history.

“I met Jack Nicholson because I sat near him. One day we sat right next to him,” Searing said of the legendary actor. “He was always very outgoing, it was always, ‘How are you, what’s your name?’ Jack was always very polite, and he’s a pure Lakers fan.”

Searing and Nicholson were both courtside for Bryant’s final game, in which he capped a storybook 20-year career by scoring 60 points.

Though he surrendered his season tickets after Bryant retired, Searing still follows the Lakers. And, he’s quite impressed with a former University of Kentucky star who’s trying to help return the franchise to championship glory.

“Anthony Davis is an unbelievable player, I think he’ll do great things in L.A.,” Searing said.

Time will tell if Davis produces the type of Lakers career that merits a Thoroughbred moniker. The basketball tie-in certainly didn’t hurt Kobe’s Back, who won multiple graded stakes contests and earned more than $1 million for the Searings.

“I never got to meet Kobe, but I was really proud that we named that horse after him,” Searing said. “And we had a lot of fun, because he was a great horse.”

Another great horse has a chance on Saturday to replace Kobe’s Back atop the hierarchy of Searing’s stable.

‘His next life’

No matter where Honor A. P. finishes in the Kentucky Derby, a bright future lies ahead. The dark brown ridgling has made such an impression that the Searings have already sold his breeding rights to Lane’s End Farm in Versailles. Once Honor A. P.’s racing days are done, he’ll embark upon a second career as a stud at the same stable that houses his illustrious father, Honor Code.

“I have always wanted to race a horse that was one day capable of standing in Kentucky as a stallion. This is the first horse that in my life of 50 years racing horses we’ve achieved that,” Searing said. “This horse is now guaranteed to have that second career and I’m extremely excited about not only his racing career that’s ongoing, but his next life.”

In his first life, Honor A. P. has a shot to secure horse racing immortality for Searing. His only other run at the Kentucky Derby came in 2014, when his horse Candy Boy finished 13th.

“That’s the only time I’ve been to Churchill Downs, but we’re excited to go back,” Searing said. “Candy Boy was a beautiful, brilliant horse, but he drew post 18 and did not have a good trip. But we had a great time, and the years since then have been devoted to trying to raise or buy horses that can compete at a high level.”

The Searings are bringing a small group of family members — along with one of the best horses in the field — to Churchill for Saturday’s race. With any luck, they’ll return to California sporting one of the most illustrious titles in the game: Kentucky Derby champions.

Saturday

Kentucky Derby

Post time: 7:01 p.m.

TV: NBC-18

This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 2:08 PM.

Josh Sullivan

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-428-8243

Josh Sullivan has worked at the Herald-Leader for more than 10 years in multiple capacities, including as a news assistant, page designer, copy editor and sports reporter. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and a Lexington native. Support my work with a digital subscription