Ron Ellis

Born: March 10, 1960, Glendale, California
Resident: Arcadia, CA
Family: Wife: Amy McGee (sister of Churchill Downs-based trainer Paul, and Daily Racing Form correspondent Marty); children, Elizabeth, Laura and Christine
2007: (193 37 .19)

Highlights

In 1980, at age 20, Ellis had a stakes win with sprint star To B. Or Not. "Larry first had him at 3 and won some races with him, but his owner, Carole Bohm, moved him to another trainer at 4," recalled Ellis. "He wouldn't run for the other trainer, and Larry wouldn't take him back when she asked him, so I asked her if I could train him while still assisting Larry." ... To B. Or Not gave Ellis his first stakes victory in the 1980 Carlsbad Stakes at Del Mar and went on to win seven added-money races and set two track records in a three-year span for Ellis.
Has also saddled grade I winners I Ain't Bluffing, Pharma and Key Phrase, but the two mares that put him on the map were Twice the Vice and Exotic Wood, when they won grade I stakes races outside of California.
Twice the Vice was a winner of four grade I races in 1996, including the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park
Exotic Wood, fourth in the 1997 Breeders' Cup Sprint, had grade I wins in the Santa Maria and Santa Monica handicaps at Santa Anita and the Go For Wand at Saratoga.
Trained 2004 2-year-old champion Declan's Moon, undefeated in his first five starts before being injured while on the Kentucky Derby trail.
Two Derby starters, Atswhatimtalknbout was fourth in 2003; Don't Get Mad was fourth in 2004.
Ellis has trained Buzzards Bay to wins in the Oaklawn Handicap and the Californian ... He acquired Buzzards Bay in 2005 after a dispersal of Fog City Stable, his previous owner.