Thoroughbred owners return sparkle to stables

& lt;a href=mailto:yovich@vindy.com & gt;By TIM YOVICH & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
AVORABLE ECONOMIC CIRCUMSTANCES have led to the development of Homecite Farms, a thoroughbred breeding and training facility.
A glance at the former Idle Acres, an Arabian breeding farm at Warner Road and Logan Way, reveals significant investment.
Homecite manager Kelly Ritchie said Paula and Andy Capestro of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., paid nearly $1 million for the property last fall. It includes the 32-acre farm and surrounding 77 acres for a total 109, five barns and an indoor swimming pool for the horses.
Two of the barns have been remodeled with new green roofs, white vinyl siding and windows. Ritchie said the cost of improving the two barns is more than $300,000.
Paula Capestro said she wants Homecite to resemble a Kentucky farm -- clean and tidy. Other improvements will include fencing and paved walkways.
The plan calls for a 100-foot-wide wooded perimeter to protect mowed pastures, explained Paula Capestro, who has been in the horse business for 15 years and owns Paula Capestro Stables in Bonsall, Calif., just north of San Diego.
Horse ownership
She operates the Bonsall stables with its 30 thoroughbreds. Her husband, an attorney, is taking an active role in operating the Liberty facility with its 45 horses.
"It's our private farm," she explained, noting that a small number of horses are owned by friends.
Operations began last September, and the facility employs 10.
Ritchie explained that the couple selected the Liberty acreage for the stable because the land is cheaper than in Kentucky, the mecca of thoroughbred racing, and certainly less expensive than in California.
Paula Capestro said she learned of the property while racing her horses at Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort in Chester, W.Va.
"It looked like it had been a special farm at one time," she said, adding that she wants to bring back the sparkle.
Business benefits
She said Homecite now makes it possible to race on both coasts.
She pointed out that another reason for the Liberty business is its proximity to Mountaineer, where purses have increased.
Tamara Pettit, director of public relations at Mountaineer, said the average total daily purse in 1994 was $22,000, compared with the current $160,000 average purse.
Pettit noted that 15 percent of revenue from video gambling machines goes into the purse fund, thus drawing a better quality of thoroughbred to race.
"That has really turned racing around at our end," Pettit said.
The future opening of tracks in Pennsylvania also attracted Homecite, Ritchie explained.
MTR Gaming Group Inc., the parent company of Mountaineer, has a license to conduct racing at Presque Isle Downs that is under construction in Erie.
MTR, Pettit said, is attempting to get a license to open a track in the Pittsburgh area.
& lt;a href=mailto:yovich@vindy.com & gt;yovich@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;