Darren Filkins Talks Future Of Harris Farms: ‘We’re Committed To Being In This’

[Wandering Eyes]

Just over 20 minutes had passed when Darren Filkins dislodged the irritant in his craw concerning the future of Harris Farms without its eponymous captain, John, who passed this July.

“People were talking dispersal,” said Filkins, about Fasig-Tipton's recent digital sale of around 90 Harris homebreds. “I even corrected people yesterday. 'Oh, I heard you're shutting down Harris farms.' 'Nope.' I don't know where they heard it. We're not shutting down Harris Farms. We're committed to being in this.”

Sitting at a table in Del Mar's backstretch cafeteria and presiding over an audience of Harris Farms mainstays–trainer Dan Morgan and his son, Trevor–Filkins wore the sharply focused air of someone juggling flaming torches while riding a unicycle.

Or, in Filkins's case specifically, of someone taking stock of the Harris Farms trainees currently stabled at Del Mar, all the while taking mental stock of a sprawling Central Valley institution.

As CEO of Harris Farms, Filkins is responsible for overseeing a vast 14,000-acre farming operation including swaths of pistachio and almond trees, citrus groves, tomato vines and hand-harvested garlic and onions; a 1,000-acre vineyard (for now); a swanky hotel and resort; along with the 7,000-acre Harris River Ranch (citrus and olives groves and a 250-head cow-calf operation), nearly 250-acres of which are set aside for the rearing of the latest Harris blue-bloods.

The racing portion of this whole enterprise is now a 501 (C) 4 charitable organization, with trustees overseeing Filkins's every move.

“Before, I just reported to John Harris. John was a 100% shareholder of everything,” said Filkins, emphasizing his “fiduciary” obligation to keep the racing side of things solvent. He'll still enjoy the support of Jonny Hilvers, general manager of the horse division.

“Over the last year and a half, working very closely with John on the transition plan, he really wanted us to continue to do what we were doing, and he wanted to set us up for future success,” said Filkins. “He oftentimes would tell me, 'Hey, I want you to perpetuate the business.'”

Perpetuate, but in reduced fashion.

Portrait of the late John Harris | Courtesy Darren Filkins

Earlier this year, a Harris Farms horse headcount came to around 390, about 100 of them broodmares. The aim over time is to trim the broodmare band down to about 25.

“It's quality for us,” said Filkins, of their philosophy without a racing calendar in Northern California. “We're going to focus on the tracks where we're running now. We want to have the quality of horses that can be competitive here.”

Harris Farm's Coalinga facility will be shuttered as a training center. About 40 horses in the training program currently reside there, with a handful of outside boarders. “We're in the process of letting all the owners know of the outside horses that they need to be finding those horses new homes,” said Filkins.

Of the nine stallions currently standing at Harris Ranch, only Catholic Boy will remain under the Harris banner, moved to a stallion farm to be named (the deal still to be inked).

The racing band has already been sharply reduced. Earlier this year, they sent about 18 horses to trainer Debbie Peery at Emerald Downs, who found them all new homes.

As the numbers shrink, so will the number of trainers, with the likes of Sean McCarthy, Dean Pederson, Carla Gaines and Morgan set to enjoy continued patronage.

The task of paring back the numbers will take a year or so. They currently have between 30-40 horses in training in Southern California, and another roughly 65 foals this year. Morgan will take a string to Turf Paradise this winter.

Furthermore, Harris Farms has15 entered in the upcoming September sale at Pomona, another 15 entered in the Arizona's fall mixed sale, along with what Filkins calls a “strong presence” in Fasig-Tipton's online January sale.

“We get there as quick as we can.” Filkins said, of the reduction process. “There aren't homes for all these horses right away.”

Filkins grew up in Bakersfield, where his father, a large animal veterinarian, worked with Quarter Horses and local Thoroughbred breeders like Don Valpredo. After college, Filkins even dabbled in a spot of rodeo.

But it's fair to say he's more comfortable holding a shovel than a set of reins.

After starting out in sales and marketing in the hallowed Steinbeck firmament of the Salinas Valley, Filkins has pursued a career in agriculture from most angles, doing everything from grower relations to dabbling in seed genetics to strategizing water assets.

He was senior vice president of North American operations for Bolthouse Farms, one of the largest carrot companies in the country. He joined Nickel Family Farms–a Bakersfield farming dynasty dating back to the 1860s–as its CEO, then assumed the same position for Agriculture Capital, focused on regenerative agriculture.

In December 2021, Filkins came under the Harris fold. As the CEO of Harris Farms, Filkins must navigate an agricultural landscape in the Central Valley of California that's undergoing a major sea change.

Catholic Boy | Harris Farms

Landmark regulations passed over a decade ago are forcing growers to sharply reduce the amount of groundwater they can use for irrigation. Crops are being torn out or changed. Land is being fallowed.

“We are redeveloping a lot of the farm ground,” Filkins said, before offering a glimpse into what this all means. “We have farm ground up by Lodi that had been wine grapes. We're in the process of removing those now, and we're going to be planting almonds there. We're 50-50 partners with Harris Woolf Almonds in Coalinga.”

In terms of adaptation and consolidation, the parallels with California horse racing are compelling.

Prior to his passing, Harris promised to bankroll a fair meet this summer at Fresno, to try to keep the fair meet legacy going. The California Horse Racing Board ultimately voted it down 4-3.

“John was committed and financially committed to continuing to try to support Northern California racing up until the time he passed away. We tried until the very last day to have Fresno run. Unfortunately, we lost. So, that was difficult, because we really, really were trying. But I'm still committed to continuing to look at that,” said Filkins.

That commitment, he said, has involved the putting together of a business plan to present to the CHRB.

“We're not asking for the whole circuit back. But what can we do to preserve racing history that goes back to the late 1800s? Because if one year goes by, two years goes by, three years, it's not going to come back,” he said.

Did Harris leave a pot of money to help bankroll any future fair meet?

“I can say that we have done our diligence to put a business plan together that would allow us to do this. And if it's one track or two tracks, at least it preserves the legacy.” he said.

“I guess I go back to the challenge: where are the horses going to come from?” Filkins added. “I can't speak for everyone else. Harris Farms and George Schmitt, we'll provide horses. We're still going to have horses that can race there.”

One key difference between the challenges Filkins faces through his twin agricultural and racing pursuits concerns planning.

While these new state groundwater laws are a major hurdle for California's growers, they're being rolled out slowly over many decades, giving time for farmers to adjust.

For those working in California horse racing, seismic changes have come quickly, as exemplified by the closure of Golden Gate Fields.

Filkins identifies the uncertainty this has created as one of his key challenges in keeping Harris Farms going–more specifically, “the uncertainty of Santa Anita,” he said.

“What's going to happen there in three to five years? Nobody knows except one person. [The Stronach] family knows probably what the plans are. But if [Santa Anita's sold], it's going to impact California racing dramatically.” he said. “I mean, we put all our eggs in one basket.”

It's not just Santa Anita's future that concerns him. “Los Alamitos–who knows what's going to happen there?” he said.

In the meantime, Filkins would like to see more races carded at Los Alamitos, including more Cal-bred races. “They have got a nice track. Why not a little bit more distance to the races?”

In taking Harris's spot on the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) board, Filkins will have an important say on an important forum to raise such kinds of issues.

“There are three representatives [on the TOC] that represent the north. Ty Green, Andy Mathis, and now myself. I'm the most junior member in all of this and probably have the least amount of experience, but I know what John would want me to do, and that's continue to exhaust all the opportunities to see if we can race in Northern California at a fair circuit somewhere next year,” he said.

What would give the whole state a major shot, of course, is some kind of legislation–think the advent of historic racing machines–to help bolster the industry's purses. Filkins isn't blind to the key hurdle standing in the way.

“Where we've seen the sport grow–in states like Wyoming, Nebraska–they have gaming. My daughter lives in Columbus, Nebraska, and they built a brand-new racetrack and hotel casino last year. It's phenomenal.

“But it's a totally different environment than here,” he said. “I know there's a lot that goes on between the Indians, gaming- wise, with the state here. They've gone to great measures to protect that.”

As the late Del Mar breakfast wound to a close–breakfast burrito still untouched upon his plate before him–Filkins bandied around another idea that seems to have support of other leading industry figures, that of a consolidated program combining the Western States' breeding industries.

“If you can get that done, I think that would be great,” he said. “There are, I won't say safety in numbers, but there are benefits in numbers.”

Anything, in other words, to help shore up and strengthen an industry that had meant so much to a figurehead whose name remains stamped into the soils skirting the I-5 highway that runs like a backbone through the Central Valley.

“I just want people to know that we're committed to continuing–that's where it seems to be lost in translation with some people in the rumor mill,” said Filkins, hammering home his earlier point. “We are committed to this for as long as we can.”

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