An American Tale
The Funkhousers' O'Sullivan Farms has a rich past, bright future

By Pete Spanos

The story of the Funkhouser family's O'Sullivan Farms is uniquely American-one that winds its way from Hawaii to the Shenandoah Valley in Charles Town, W.Va.

This small town that tried and hanged John Brown for his raid on nearby Harper's Ferry was first surveyed in 1748 by 16-year old George Washington, and inhabited by his younger brothers, including Charles, in whose name it still stands.

Within the town's slightly more modern history are the past and present Funkhousers, proprietors of O'Sullivan Farms since 1939. To understand how West Virginia's oldest Thoroughbred farm came to stand two Eclipse Award winners at stud and carry one of the premier names in the state's racing program, one must sail back in time to the islands of the Pacific-and the exotic upbringing of 89-year-old farm matriarch Ruth Funkhouser-whose marriage to the son of a Depression-era industrialist set events in motion.

Today, the centerpiece of the farm is Cedar Lawn mansion, a 26-room Colonial masterpiece that, along with its sole inhabitant, the diminutive and feisty great-grandmother Ruth, retains the look and feel of its aristocracy.

Under the high ceilings of the mansion-one of five stately homes belonging to Washington's descendants that Ruth's father-in-law would bring into the family holdings-were brokered many late-night deals between industry power players and legislators over cigars and whiskey that to this day still bear fruit for area horsemen.

Ruth's mother was native Hawaiian, and her father was the grandson of the English sea captain credited with establishing trade among the islands. As a youngster, Ruth developed her love of horses, gleefully following the paniolos (cowboys) as they herded them on her family's sprawling 22,000-acre cattle ranch on the big island.

From childhood in Hawaii came boarding school stateside for the beauteous, athletic Ruth, first in Tennessee, then at Stuart Hall in Staunton, Va., where she would meet and marry the brother of a roommate, the strikingly handsome Justin Funkhouser.

West Virginia's oldest Thoroughbred farm
is home to two Eclipse Award winners

Justin was the son of the rags-to-riches American entrepreneur Raymond J. "R.J." Funkhouser, who made his way in a variety of successful business endeavors and inventions before purchasing a package of three companies from J.P. Morgan at the height of the Great Depression.

"My grandfather was a character right out of a Horatio Alger novel," said the Stanford-educated English and poetry scholar Randy Funkhouser, who now oversees all of the 200-acre farm's operations. "He managed to make money during the Depression. He knew when to buy and when to sell."

One of the three companies R.J. Funkhouser purchased from Morgan (the others he eventually sold were the forerunners of Nestle chocolate and Pond's cosmetics) was the O'Sullivan Rubber Company, tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the town of Winchester, Va., close to Charles Town. From that company comes the farm's name.

The elder Funkhouser made good on a promise to retire young to the Shenandoah Valley, bringing his family with him and establishing the farm-once consisting of 7,000 acres-and a prestigious herd of Hereford cattle.

From cattle came Thoroughbreds, the first racehorse in 1939, and in typical R.J. fashion the stable would quickly rise to excellence. Most of the farm broodmares were shipped to legendary Bluegrass nurseries Claiborne Farm and Spendthrift Farm, and bred to prominent Kentucky stallions. Twice the farm's consignment topped the average price category of the vaunted yearling sales at Saratoga, in 1944 and 1946.

Justin and farm trainer Frank Gall eventually purchased a son of Bull Dog, multiple stakes winner Noble Impulse-out of Uvira II, the foundation mare of the A.P. Indy and Raja Baba lines-after a thirdplace finish in the 1949 Preakness Stakes and prior to his victory the next year in the Salvator Mile. They would stand Noble Impulse at stud and the farm would be on its way.

In the early 1950s the marriage of Ruth and Justin dissolved, and much of the family acreage was split up along with it and the stock dispersed-including an impressive broodmare band-many of which were offspring of Noble Impulse.

"Everything that's happened to me (in the horse business) happened after 1956," Ruth, busy to that point rearing her own brood of five, would later say. It was in these years that she took over Cedar Lawn, a mere 85 acres, and what was left of the bloodstock.

"It was good for us all," she said. "Even the children went to work."

The 2005 edition of the Funkhouser story centers on the immediate family of Ruth's son Randy-named Raymond J. Funkhouser II for his grandfather-a lifelong horseman with a near photographic command of his name's history and a passion for the horses he raises by hand.

Funkhouser lives in an old colonial farmhouse across the small highway from Cedar Lawn that halves the land with his wife, Clissy, and at least one, and sometimes all three of their grown children depending on college, work, and travel schedules.

The pair met in California-at Yosemite Falls-in the early '70s. Clissy-a neighbor of the farm back home and then a Sacred Heart transfer student studying in San Francisco-joked that she "traveled 3,000 miles to meet a man I had seen before back in West Virginia, even though he didn't remember me."

Randy recalls the “divinely inspired” re-encounter at the waterfall with the girl he went to the same elementary school with in both personal and prosaic terms, crafting one of his many poems in honor of the chance meeting.

A graduate of the University of Virginia’s theater department, Clissy, a certified public accountant, remains active in a variety of community thespian projects, including hosting an annual radio program akin to Garrison Keeler’s “A Prairie Home Companion” to raise money for the local library.

Clissy’s mother, Nancy, said Randy, a Julliard School graduate, is responsible for his partner’s theatrical disposition. “Theirs is a very dramatic family.”

The children—Kate, 26, John, 24, and Joe, 22—have all recently finished or are currently pursuing higher education, and each is emotionally attached to family and farm. Daughter Kate is a teacher finishing a masters in education, and both sons helped to build the new stallion barn and spent summers as farmhands. All are regular fixtures near the paddock under the Charles Town lights at race time.

The farm twice was the leading consignor
by average at Saratoga

“I’d love to see one or all of them continue to run the farm,” said
Randy. “Joe is considering law school and I think it’s a good idea
for him to have something like that to be able to earn with.”

In 1974, Randy graduated from Stanford and came back home
the next year to run the farm with his mother and Gall, a talented
horse conditioner and businessman who would become like a surrogate
father to Randy until Gall’s death in 1981.

“I have an abiding love of the Thoroughbred and its pedigree,”
Funkhouser said. “I got this from my father’s encouragement and also from Frank Gall, who stayed on with this family and served it well until he passed.”

Gall aided the farm as its manager and primary trainer for decades. After the divorce, Gall partnered with Ruth and advised her with a wealth of knowledge that once included his service as a West Virginia state steward.

Gall is still a permanent presence at the farm he helped build, his life there commemorated by his tombstone just off Cedar Lawn with a view of the broodmares.

“He was a part of this family,” said Randy, ever choked-up at the mention of Gall’s name. “We still pour good bourbon on his grave on West Virginia Breeders’ Cup night.”

The farm stands on some of the region’s most fertile and mineral rich soil—“those Washington boys knew what they were doing,” Randy laughed—and with 178 acres owned outright and another 23 leased, the O’Sullivan outfit has its hands full.

The farm currently has 34 mares—some of which are boarders—20 yearlings, and roughly 15 2-year-olds in training, as well as some seasoned runners based on the Charles Town handicap and West Virginia restricted race scene, including homebreds Tienneman Square, second in the 2004 West Virginia Breeders’ Classic, and multiple
stakes winner of $527,897 Confucius Say, the state’s Horse of the Year in 2002 and back-to-back winner of the West Virginia Breeders’ Classic.

“If you bring good horses in, you can dramatically improve
the West Virginia racing industry.”
— Randy Funkhouser

The Funkhousers run a full-service operation that boards, breeds, foals, and trains, and also offers pedigree analysis and tax consultation. The land includes a brand new broodmare barn and plans for another, and a state-of-the-art stallion facility that serves as home to seven of West Virginia’s finest stallions: including 1991 Horse of the Year and champion older horse Black Tie Affair, and champion sprinter of 1990 and 1991, Housebuster.

“This is the only farm on the East Coast I believe that stands two Eclipse champions,” said Funkhouser, “and we’re very proud of that.” Funkhouser expects those two studs, as well as barnmates Bop, Inner
Harbour, Makin, Way West, and a son of Storm Cat, Western Cat, to cover—in aggregate— somewhere between 150-200 broodmares
this season.

Before these new boys on the block, the first of a long line of O’Sullivan stallions to make a name for the farm was multiple stakes winner Bunny’s Babe (Attention—Mad Bunny, by Royal Minstrel), who became a prolific source of runners and a starting point for quality at the farm. He
was acquired by the Funkhousers in the 1960s in an unusual fashion.

“We got him on an unpaid board bill,” said Randy. “He was one of the first great West Virginia stallions and he really showed what they can do.”

Soon the farm would stand a son of Native Dancer (out of Shy Dancer), Shy Native—the state’s leading all-time sire at the time with more than $5 million in progeny winnings and included on the national list of top sires—and on down the line to stallions Equilibrium; Raise a Native son
Feel the Power, out of Davona Dale; Smartinsky; Top Rank; and a son of Mr. Prospector, Tagish.

“I’ve always said that the key to West Virginia racing is our breeding program,” said Randy. “If you bring good horses in, you can dramatically improve the West Virginia racing industry. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”

The overarching horse industry is something Funkhouser is very passionate about, from his decades-long attempts to help the
agricultural climate in his state—especially the protection of the land in his own Jefferson County—to his prodigious efforts on behalf of the area’s horsemen.

Though the introduction of slot machines in 1994 has infused the industry with a new lifeblood and brought increased purses to both Charles Town Races & Slots (just seven miles away) and Mountaineer Race Track &
Gaming Resort, constant jostling with Penn National Gaming Inc.— Charles Town’s owner—and a recent attempt by the state’s governor to reduce the horsemen’s share of the video lottery proceeds to fund a workers’ compensation deficit are running pressure points for the Funkhousers, who have a long history of supporting the industry with their money and time.

“This is a tough business to be in,” said Funkhouser, president of the Charles Town Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association from 1990-97. “Add to this precariousness the fact we are run at the whim
of vagaries of the legislature, and it makes it very difficult to plan financially for your children. You never know from year to year what your income will be.”

To this end the Funkhousers have been at the vanguard of several attempts to help horsemen get a leg up. Partly through Ruth’s efforts, the West Virginia Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association was founded in
1967, and in 1984 Ruth and Randy were instrumental in the creation of the West Virginia Thoroughbred Development Fund, as well as the popular West Virginia Breeders Classics.

“The WVTDF is the best thing that’s ever happened to this industry,” said Randy. “Last year they gave out $6 million in stallion, owner, and breeder incentives in West Virginia accredited races—the tracks are required by law to offer one each day and the purses have to be 20% higher than the regular purses.”

Funkhouser said that purses at Charles Town have gone from $30,000 a day to over $200,000, and the long-standing “10-10-10” legislatively-provided incentive percentages—brought about at one of those smoky, late night Cedar Lawn congresses and implemented through the leadership of a then young West Virginia legislator named Brereton C. Jones—are giving hope to racing stalwarts.

“I keep telling people that we’re running for New York purses against West Virginia competition. That’s the best reason for someone to come here,” Funkhouser said.

“If we can get past some of the political problems we’ve been having, we can expand Charles Town to a first-class facility. We’ve got two stallions that could stand in Kentucky and we’re trying to promote
this sport up here,” said Randy.

“We’d like to see a West Virginia stallion produce a Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winner one day.”

And while it is once again reaping the fruits of success, the current operation remains a family-run enterprise from top to bottom, devoted to a deep Christian faith, and shaped in the form of the poet’s soul
of its owner.

“I always loved the family run atmosphere of places
like Claiborne Farm,” - Randy Funkhouser

“I always loved the family run atmosphere of places like Claiborne Farm,” said Randy, who knows first-hand about intergenerational
trust. “I truly believe in that model, and I also believe in community,
and in supporting local business.”

As with most typical large-scale operations, the day-to-day chores, interspersed with those miraculous late-night births, require
help. To add even more history to this fated outfit, a teen-aged John Servis—the farm’s most esoteric link to the spring classics—
got his start on the grounds cutting grass and handling horses before landing an apprenticeship under legendary area trainer Eugene O’Smith.

Today, Funkhouser, a trainer himself, entrusts veteran conditioner George Yepsook, at the stable for five years, with the care and
management of the racehorses. Farm manager Morris Breeden, along with sons and seasoned hands Steve and Jason, add to the
family-friendly atmosphere, and local horseman Brian Thomas lends his services as the farm’s stallion manager.

Randy’s personal breeding philosophy, though clearly imbued with his own spirituality, is tethered also to reason, science, and hard-nosed fact.

“I’m a life-long student of bloodlines,” offered Randy, “and I believe in breeding the best horses that I possibly can with the resources I have — and therein lies the challenge of the small breeder.

“Breeding the truly best to the best is out of our means, but if you breed well enough, long enough, over time you will achieve varying degrees of success, and then you can invest back into the best mares. That’s where I think we are at this point.”

Funkhouser said starting from scratch after the family’s dispersal of its highestquality stock in the early 1950s set the farm back on this quest.

“I subscribe to the ‘plateau theory,’ which states that it takes three generations for a farm of limited resources to get a classic type
runner. My dad started out at the top but we had to start again from scratch. We are probably at the second plateau now.”

For Funkhouser the horseman, the science of raising classic horses will be practiced in countless hours in the breeding shed, the foaling barn, and within the labyrinth of potential matings and paddock lines that make up his landscape.

But Funkhouser the lyricist—who plans to write a book about his family’s history, or possibly a collection of personal odes to the Shenandoah Valley—can visualize it in his imagination, and describes his scene with a more euphonic certainty, when he writes of a ready mare and the hope of a new birth in his work, “The Foaling.”

Her hoof bruises the earth repeatedly,
Punctuates the silence of the night.
Steam rises from her sweating withers,
swirls into the cobwebs above…

“I think all poems are spiritual,” said the Shenandoah’s would-be author, “and all poets—Frost, Yeats—are essentially poets of place.”

A well-seasoned midwife,
I clasp both ankles,
Wrenching in harmonious rhythm…

“Poetry uses a perception of natural events to set off memory, but at its best, offers a moment of illumination into the present that binds us with the future.”

This future includes a new office for Randy in the stallion barn, complete with a conference room to entertain friends and business guests, and an office across the hall for Clissy to hang her C.P.A. shingle.

A farm bound with the past, and the future. Surveyed by a president, set up by an industrialist, rekindled by Hawaiian fire — breathed into new life by a poet/horseman and a family of his own.

Bracing my feet firmly…
as the newborn foal gushes into life.

Courtesy The Bloodhorse March 5, 2005