leonard j. rose, sr.
L. J. Rose was born in 1827 in Bavaria, Germany. He was a major contributor to West Coast racing and a leading breeder of Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds in California. He is credited with breeding Beautiful Bells, Reverie and Stamboul, the latter purchased and campaigned by E. H. Harriman's Arden Farms. Rosemead Stock Farm, Rose's primary breeding establishment, became the city of Rosemead, California in the San Gabriel Valley near Los Angeles. Rose became associated with B. D. Wilson, a wealthy California landowner in 1850. From Wilson, Rose purchased the famous property called Sunny Slope, which he used to establish his winery, the L. J. Rose Wine Company. Rose sold the vineyard for $1 million clear and purchased the famous stables and orchard at Rosemead, where he placed The Moor, Fleetwing, Maggie Mitchell and Minnehaha, "The Broodmare of the Turf." It was here that Rose bred Stamboul 2:07 1/2, Alcazar 2:20 and many other great trotting sires and matrons. The Moor produced the great Sultan, Beautiful Bells, the double-crowned record-breaker Hinda Rose; he was also the maternal grandsire of the 1979 Immortal, Chimes. Most of Rose's stock came from Woodburn Farm, Kentucky. The bloodlines Rose's horses produced brought him acclaim as a breeder, however, he became dejected after expending vast sums of money on a mine is Arizona. L. J. Rose took his life on May 17, 1899 at his home in Los Angeles.
Published in the Harness Racing Museum's 1997 book, The 1996-7 Immortals