Galway Downs’ 242 acres were originally part of the Vail Cattle Company land. Used primarily for cattle grazing, the property comprised 87,500 acres that stretched from Temecula Parkway to Clinton Keith Road, and from Camp Pendleton to past Vail Lake.
The Vail Cattle Company held that land from 1904 until 1964, and Galway Downs began in 1968.
Longtime Temecula resident and Cowgirl Hall of Fame inductee Pat Ommert recalls that developers initially hoped to attract property buyers who wanted a nearby place to train their harness racing horses and Thoroughbreds.
Three failed attempts at residential development stud the story, along with a few famous racehorses that are believed to have trained here.
The following is an estimated timeline of Galway’s various chapters before Ken and Tina Smith purchased the property and began its remarkable ascent and path to hosting LA28 Olympic equestrian competition.
1968: Opened as Rancho California Track and Training Center, built by the Kaiser Development Corporation.
1970: Extensive infrastructure additions. Barns 2-5, RV park, kitchen, restaurant, hay barn, check-in gate.
1980: Kaiser Development sold the property to Fran Delaney, who used to have Delaney’s restaurant in Orange County and Temecula. He was Irish, hence the “Galway Downs” renaming.
1980: 5/8-mile track built inside the bigger track. 8 new barns, more infrastructure.
1970 – 1980: A few rodeos and other competitions were hosted on the upper show grounds, along with the racehorse training.
1986: Tax laws changed in a very bad way for the racing industry, which went into steep decline, as did Galway Downs.
1989: Delany tried to develop the property into 24 lots of housing. Failed.
1989: Noted Northern California racing investor Kjell Qvale purchased the property, maybe out of bankruptcy.
Qvale brought in Eddie Milligan to operate the venue. Milligan built the Los Angeles Equestrian Center and had a hand in several Southern California boarding and training facilities, including Hansen Dam Equestrian Center.
He helped develop other equestrian events and activities at Galway Downs
1993: Milligan joined with Corzo brothers, Alvaro and Renato, who eventually formed a management group called MCC Events.
1994 – 2004. MCC became owners of the property along with managing it. It’s believed that famous racehorses including Silver Charm and John Henry trained at Galway Downs during this time.
1998: Alvaro Corzo invited Robert Kellerhouse to visit the property and brought Robert on to start operating eventing competitions. The venue was already in disrepair at that time and there was no cross-country course – just knee-high weeds and a lot of hope. As of 1995, Robert had been working with his mother, Anne Kellerhouse, and Burt Wood in staging events at the Del Mar Horse Park. “We outgrew the property,” Robert explains.
“Despite its condition at the time, you could see it would be an amazing place to host an event. The community, the barns, the venue, a vet hospital across the street…It was a huge move to move, but clearly the best decision for our sport!”
Next door, renowned sport and racehorse veterinarian, Will Ommert, and his wife Pat, operated Los Caballos Veterinary Hospital, which is now Temeku Equine. Terry and Linda Paine’s KingsWay Farm was also (and still is) across the street as a breeding and sporthorse hub. And the Rich family’s Green Acres Ranch was thriving since its 1957 inception and is still going strong as a home to famous Arabians and a range of riding and community equestrian programs.
2001: The Corzos attempted to develop as residential lots and failed.
2004: NAMCO bought property out of bankruptcy, tried to develop as residential subdivision.
2004: NAMCO asked Robert to operate the property. “I was not necessarily interested in being a barn manager, but I wanted to keep the venue moving forward,” Robert said. “I think if we had lost that continuity with the horse, the place might have been gone forever.”
2008: NAMCO’s attempt to develop failed, in part due to real estate decline underway at the time.
2008: Property assets assigned to East West Bank, as part of the United States’ Trouble Assets Relief Program (TARP).
2010: Ken and Tina Smith purchased Galway Downs with the vision of making it “A Celebration of Life.” Special events spaces and a youth sports complex supplement the equestrian revenue to make it economically viable. “That was the beginning of where we are today,” Robert reflects.
2009 – 2014: Evolution of the Wine Country Community Plan.
Riverside General Plan amended to great effect for equestrian lifestyle. The Valle de los Caballos became the Equestrian Zone, which co-exists with the Wine Zone and Residential Zone.
“It was an incredible time to move this zoning change forward,” Robert shares. “I credit our wine country advocates, Jeff Stone, Bill Wilson, and other people for making that happen. And Ken Smith was always a big champion of Wine Country Community Plan.”
Read how Galway Downs went from the Smiths’ purchase to becoming the proposed site for the LA28 Olympic equestrian competition here.
