ELMER JANUARY, A HORSE TRAINER AT LOS ALAMITOS FOR NEARLY 70 YEARS, HAS DIED
Elmer January, who saddled horses at Los Alamitos in the 1950s and trained at the Orange County oval until his retirement in March of 2020, died on Wednesday, March 1. A beloved and respected figure at Los Alamitos, January had turned 97-years-old just a few days ago on Monday, February 27.
With nearly 70 years conditioning horses at Los Alamitos, few trainers spent more days in the barn area at the Cypress track than January. Over the years, he won 370 Quarter Horse races and 141 Thoroughbred races under the lights at Los Alamitos. Upon his retirement, January was the ninth all-time leading trainer at night at Los Alamitos. His graded stakes winning Quarter Horses included Grade 1 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity winner Primo High in 1996 and multiple Grade 3 stakes winner Six Figures during the early 1990s.
A native of Vernon, Texas, his family moved to California when he was 7. He proudly served his country in World War II in 1944. After completing his military service, he returned to his racing roots. January bought his first racehorse in 1945 and started campaigning runners in small meets all over California. He eventually made his way to Los Alamitos in the 1950s.
"The racing office was a small little room - no more than two trainers - could be in there at the same time, but that's where you entered your horses,” January once said. “I used to train against all the greats like Lloyd Walker, James V.A. Carter, Stan Immenschuh, Henry Moreno and many others."
In the 1960s, January unveiled a big star by the name of Tom Lydon. January traveled to Evangeline Downs with Tom Lydon, where he won the first Quarter Horse derby held there in 1966. A son of Moon Deck, Tom Lydon won 15 races while competing from 1965 through 1972. He earned nearly $50,000 in his career, a nice sum for the time.
January would later enjoy great success with the distance horse Manus Mark in the mid-1980s. Owned by Bottasso and Gilliam, Manus Mark was named PCQHRA Champion 870-yard horse in 1984. January also won many other important races with horses like Best Of Me in the Kaweah Bar Handicap in 1983, A Mere First in the Bayer Legend California Challenge in 1996 and Classic Tol in the Ivan Ashment Handicap in 2004.
The Grade 1 winning Primo High for Bottasso and Gilliam was among January’s all-time favorite horses. After retiring from racing, Primo High lived at January’s ranch in Sanger, California. Following his own retirement from training, Elmer January, for many decades the dean of trainers at Los Alamitos, went back home to his ranch in Sanger.
-30-