Harry Biszantz was a successful, self-made man whose thriving car dealership kept him busy day and night, but on Saturdays he took the time for father-son outings, bringing his young son, Gary, to Santa Anita to watch the races. Dad enjoyed a beer and a cigar, while Gary stood on a chair eyeballing every thundering finish, and the combination of grace and sinew that marked these giant athletes. Gary knew then exactly what he wanted: an endless spread of Kentucky bluegrass, with big, dozing trees and bleach-white fences. And within those fences, "I would look out and see hundreds of horses," Biszantz remembers thinking. "And then in my mind I would head to the track, and watch my horses run the big races.

"And that was the dream," he says. "That was always the dream."

As a leader in horseracing today, Biszantz, the first Westerner to chair the old-line Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, and a member of the Breeder's Cup Board of Directors, was invited to a screening of Seabiscuit, based on Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling novel about the odds-defying, knobby-kneed champion. Biszantz says he was close to tears. "I really liked the moral of the story. It seemed to convey two things: we need more sportsmen in the industry, and we need to take better care of the horses we race."

Forty-eight hours later, those last words rang prophetic as Biszantz got a call from a Kentucky newspaper reporter: Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner, had been slaughtered in Japan, for use in dog food. Biszantz was speechless; public outcry within the U.S. was immediate.

A reason why news of Ferdinand's slaughter dealt such a sickening blow is that Biszantz, who also serves on the Integrity in Racing Committee, has taken significant strides in recent years to protect retired racehorses from the kind of fate suffered by Ferdinand. His group is closely tracking legislation to ban such slaughtering, currently under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1998, his charitable foundation purchased a 40-acre sanctuary near Tehachapi, Calif., calling it Tranquility Farm. With 75 stalls and rolling green hills for endless grazing, Tranquility was created for the sole purpose of retraining, rehabilitating, rescuing, and adopting injured and retired horses—the kind of place where a horse like Ferdinand should have spent his last days.

In this and other ways, Biszantz, owner of Cobra Farm, a 350-acre thoroughbred operation in Lexington, Ky., has fought for the humane handling of horses, even after their illustrious careers are put to pasture. He is staunchly committed to improving racing and extending the lives of its competitors, and his is one of the strongest voices against the arbitrary doping and drugging of horses.

"We use too much medication on them," he says. "Horses need less medication, and more rest. When that happens, they run sounder, they run longer, and they run more often."

This philosophy of readiness for the long run has served Biszantz well since leaving his CMC days. And he's not one to fret over the consequences of change, instead applying this motto to everything he does: "You can't really win at anything—any sport, any business—unless you're prepared to lose. If you're afraid you'll fail, you'll never make an effort to commit to being a champion."

That philosophy speaks to years of focus. When Biszantz applied to CMC, he was being groomed to take over his father's Ford dealership. "I wanted to go to a school where I could get a good business education and be close to the dealership," says Biszantz, who sold cars on weekends. His personality was suited for the one-on-one encounters with professors. "It was about being able to exchange ideas, and having teachers who understood you," he says. "I was fortunate to get that kind of background."

Biszantz considered his education on par with his sportsmanship. "I think athletics and education very much go together," he has said. His finesse on the court and on the field surfaced early at CMC. "Buzz" Biszantz captained the golf team, was an all-conference guard on the basketball team, and was named Athlete of the Year as a senior. He was inducted into the CMS Athletic Hall of Fame last year. His belief in the importance of physical fitness and overall health is evidenced in his support as the lead donor for the College's planned Athletic and Recreation Center, a two-phase project slated to include a 23,400 square-foot fitness complex with two, full indoor-playing courts and state-of-the-art fitness center.

His love of sports started young. Growing up in San Marino, Calif., he rode his bicycle to the Rose Bowl to retrieve balls during the Chicago Cubs' spring training, and worked as recreation director at Huntington Middle School in San Marino, watching tennis hall-of-famers Pancho Gonzalez and Jack Kramer.

In the sometimes startling ways that dreams are realized, Biszantz's life after CMC would, from certain angles, parallel that of Seabiscuit owner Charles Howard, the Depression-era millionaire who sunk his automotive profits into a stable of horses. After graduating with a degree in business administration in 1956, Biszantz bought his first horse for $400 at an auction in Pomona, after a buddy accidentally bid on it and couldn't pay. He named the filly Affirm Miss and sent her to a friend at Santa Anita for training. "The first time she won, she won by a length and a half," Biszantz says, "and I was hooked."

Not unlike Howard, he would begin strategizing a way to use cars to build his Kentucky dream. In 1969 he founded El Rancho Ford, in Poway, Calif., and sold the dealership less than a decade later. With a small circle of investors he purchased Cobra Golf, whose custom-fit designs employed cutting-edge technology that big companies such as Wilson and Spalding were overlooking. Biszantz was the driving force behind Cobra's ascension to second-largest manufacturer of premium clubs, and to its sponsorship of players Hollis Stacy, John Daly, and marquee athlete Greg Norman.

It was, finally, the business that would buy his dreams. In 1996, when Biszantz sold Cobra Golf for $700 million, Cobra Farm became a reality.

Since 1992, Biszantz's thoroughbreds, some owned in partnership, have won more than 300 races and finished in the money 50 percent of the time. He has posted winners at Santa Anita, Keeneland, Churchill, Belmont, and Del Mar, and in 1998 realized another dream when Old Trieste, resplendent in Cobra Farm's green and yellow silks, ran the Kentucky Derby.

Biszantz and his wife, Betty, and daughters Nikelle and Samantha, live in Del Mar, Calif., splitting their time in Kentucky when possible. Daughter Suzanne, who visited CMC's campus last April with her father as part of the UNOVA Leaders Forum, is president of the Greg Norman Collection, a division of Reebok International. Suzanne Biszantz described her dad as having "a guts factor that is very rare."

Biszantz continues his philanthropic work on behalf of horses. In March 1999, the Association of Racing Commissioners International awarded him its annual Animal Welfare award. That same year, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders group presented Biszantz with the Humanitarian of the Year award.

"I've been watching horses all through my career," Biszantz says. "I love them. I love the animal. I think the horse is absolutely the most magnificent, physical specimen of strength, style, grace, quality, and speed."

Responding to a question also asked of Seabiscuit's director, Biszantz ponders a racehorse name that would also describe him.

"My first inclination would be something with 'enthusiasm' or 'passion,'" he replies. "My attitude has always been to have passion in life, in some form.

"It is," he says, "the most important ingredient to success."

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"I like to use the phrase 'risk and reward,'" says Biszantz, shown here at Cobra Farm. "A lot of people don't want to take risks and end up taking a job that's very secure because they'll have longevity and a paycheck, and I respect that. But then there are other people who are on the cutting edge, who say, 'I'm going to try. I'm smart enough, and I think I can do this.'"

Biszantz, with Mike Sutton '76, director of athletics, was inducted into the CMS Athletic Hall of Fame last April.