By Bill Heller
Every day he drove to work, Chris Larsen, an executive with construction giant Halmar International in Nanuet, New York, would drive past a car dealership. “Every day, I saw this red Ferrari,” Larsen said. “I stopped. They wanted $98,000 for it.” His test drive proved unfavorable. “It was the worst ride I ever had,” he said. “I said, `What else can I do with $98,000?’”
Buy Thoroughbreds, of course. “I always loved horse racing,” Larsen said. “I was a big fan of (trainer) Kiaran McLaughlin. He was training horses for West Point Thoroughbreds. I called up West Point. I had a lot of fun from the beginning. I got Saratoga Russell and Justwhistledixie.”
Both were big-time winners. Saratoga Russell, trained by McLaughlin, won four of 10 starts and earned $149,710. Justwhistledixie, trained by Bill Mott, took five of 12 starts and made $449,427.
“I said, `Look how easy this is,’” Larsen laughed, because he subsequently learned the words ‘easy’ and `racehorses’ don’t frequently belong in the same sentence. Regardless, he decided to get into breeding. “I bought some mares off Terry Finley (West Point Thoroughbreds founder and CEO) to get started. I’m still with West Point. Terry Finley is my enabler.”
Some 15 years later, he’s got his best horse, the four-year-old New York-bred filly Moonage Daydream, a daughter of Candy Ride (ARG) out of Elatha by Malibu Moon, trained by Jorge Abreu. On October 27th on Empire Showcase Day at Aqueduct, Moonage Daydream won her third consecutive start, rallying boldly late under Flavien Prat to a half-length victory in the $200,000 Ticonderoga Stakes on grass.
Larsen also stands Galilean, a son of Uncle Mo, and Fog of War at his bloodstock advisor Chris Bernhard’s Hidden Lake Farm in Stillwater, 16 miles southeast of Saratoga Race Course.
Born in Chester, New York and now a resident of nearby Warwick, Larsen grew up on a farm: “My dad was a dairy farmer. I’ve always loved farm life.”
He was first exposed to horse racing at Monticello Raceway, a harness track not far from his home. His first visit to a Thoroughbred track was unforgettable, getting to see a two-time horse of the year. “I saw John Henry at the Meadowlands the first time I went to a Thoroughbred track. I think he was 10.”
Larsen’s climb in the business world with Halmar allowed him a chance to participate fully as an owner and breeder. “I got into construction,” he said. “I started at the bottom of the ladder. I was very fortunate to work with the founders of Halmar. I was 24. I did work hard.”
In 1996, Larsen became a partner in Halmar, then known as Halmar Builders of New York. “It was great,” he said. “I gave all the credit to three guys I worked for. They did things the right way: Michael Malagiero, Al DiLeo, and William Murphy.”
In 2000, Larsen was promoted to lead Halmar Builders. A year later, he helped engineer a merger with Granite Construction Company. In 2005, Larsen and Paul Atkins established Halmar International, a full-service construction company whose projects have included a massive reconstruction of JFK Airport, the IBM Headquarters and Semiconductor Facility, and the superstructure of the World Trade Center. It bills itself as the leader in bridge and highway construction through the Hudson Valley and as one of the largest civil contractors in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. One of its current projects is upgrading the Golden Gate Bridge to withstand seismic activity.
He’s yet to reach such lofty success with his Thoroughbreds, but he feels he’s on the right track with his 3C Stable. “When I started, I didn’t even know what I didn’t know,” he said. “Every time I thought I had a good idea, it wasn’t a good idea. It’s been great working with Terry and those guys.”
He is delighted to continue to work with Bernhard and Martha Jane Mullholland of Mullholland Springs, who also advises him. “He has a long-range goal of where he wants to be,” Mullholland told the BloodHorse in 2021. “The New York program is amazing. You can run for significant purses up there in a limited pool of horses. He’s growing, growing, growing. He is someone I think we need in this industry and for the New York program.”
Bernhard agrees: “Chris looks at breeding the big filly stables. He does a lot of homework. For a guy who runs a big business, he can spout things off on pedigrees. He’s got his own breeding ideas. He’s a great guy. He’ll stop with a horse. Send them back to the farm when needed. He’s one of those owners who cares about the animal, their welfare and always trying to do the right thing by them. I wish we had more guys like that.”
Larsen has 10 mares – eight in Kentucky and two in New York – five horses racing and a handful of two-year-olds. He’s happy he’s landed with Moonage Daydream’s trainer, Jorge Abreu.
“George is a great trainer,” Larsen said. “He came from Chad Brown. He had just left out on his own. He needed some horses. I think Bernhard put us together. I trust him totally.”
Abreu appreciates that: “Mr. Larsen has been with me since day one and keeps sending me good horses. This filly is getting better with age.”
She’s pretty good already: a four-time stakes winner who has taken the Yaddo Stakes at Saratoga and the John Hettinger Stakes and Ticonderoga Stakes at Aqueduct. She boasts six wins and one second in 12 starts, for earnings of $480,660.
Abreu shipped her to his winter base in Florida and she’ll be prepped for next season in New York. “It’s a nice program New York-breds have,” Larsen said.
When she’s done racing, she’ll join Larsen’s broodmare band.
Larsen has shared all his success with his wife of 40 years, Colleen, and their son Conor, currently working on a doctorate degree in astrophysics at the University of Delaware. “When my son was little, I put up a folding chair for him at Saratoga and gave him binoculars,” Larsen said. “He’s kind of lost interest. He was in a band. My wife enjoys racing, especially at Saratoga.”
Now, about that Ferrari. Larsen didn’t get the red one, but he now owns two race car teams. “I’m a little bit of a competition junkie,” he said. “I get the thrill of competing and racing.”
