R. Larry Johnson, who put his stamp on the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred industry on racetracks, in breeding sheds, and in boardrooms in Maryland and Virginia, passed away Feb. 4. He was 78.

“He was successful in all parts of the horse business — standing stallions, selling yearlings and breeding good, competitive racehorses,” said Cricket Goodall, executive director of the Maryland Horse Breeders Association (MHBA), on whose board he sat. “He had strong opinions which often resulted in good ideas. He challenged us all to be better.” 

“Larry Johnson was one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever come across, an absolutely integral part of the Virginia breeding and racing industry,” said Andrew Motion, a neighbor of Johnson’s who assisted Johnson in navigating the commercial breeding landscape, and whose brother Graham Motion trained off-and-on for Johnson for decades.

“He was so helpful with trying to sort things out legislatively, with the horsemen’s groups, and with bright ideas and ways to go about things,” Motion added.

Johnson, a forensic accountant by trade, built a powerful breeding and racing operation notable both for its success – runners he owned himself or in partnership earned more than $20 million – and its humble beginnings.

The best horses Johnson has bred – including his homebred multiple graded stakes winner Future Is Now and Belmont Stakes runner-up Mindframe, whom he sold for $600,000 as a yearling – stem from the same family.

“It starts with a $2,500 Charles Town horse named Ran’s Chick,” said Johnson’s longtime trainer, and friend, Michael Trombetta. “That was the start of it all. I mean, truly, he built something that was a one-in-a-million kind of thing.”

Ran’s Chick, when bred to Parfaitement, whose entrymate in the 1983 Preakness, Deputed Testamony, was the most recent Maryland-bred winner of the Middle Jewel, produced Special Kell.

Special Kell begat Star Kell, the granddam of Mindframe, and Magical Meadow, the granddam of Future Is Now.

“Whether it’s sisters or nieces or mother, it all goes back Ran’s Chick and the foal she had, Special Kell,” Johnson told The Racing Biz this past June. “Special Kell has just been phenomenal… If [Mindframe] would achieve Grade 1 success, the influence it would have on the pedigrees of so many of my horses… it’s just overwhelming.”

Racing in Johnson’s distinctive white-and-black silks, his horses found success up and down the East Coast, from Florida’s Gulfstream Park to Canada’s Woodbine. Among the better runners he campaigned were the graded stakes winners Spun Glass, Sincerely, and Street Magician, later a sire, as well as Despite the Odds, who ran for Johnson and partners and later was a sire.

Speaking of Street Magician: One year Sheikh Mohammed invited owners of Darley-connected horses to Dubai – on the Sheikh’s dime – and treated them to an extremely first-class visit. Following Street Magician’s win in the Grade 3 Hirsch Jacobs Stakes at Pimlico, Johnson, known for his casual dress and demeanor, was among those invited, since Street Magician was by the Darley stallion Street Cry.

“Larry called me, and he said, ‘You ain’t gonna believe this,’” Trombetta remembered. “’I got an invitation from Sheikh Mohammed to go to Dubai.’ And I said, ‘You gotta go.’”

When Johnson was introduced to Sheikh Mohammed as the owner of Street Magician, the Sheikh made, in Johnson’s telling, the universal “raising the roof” sign.

“Did Sheikh Mohammed just raise the roof for Street Magician?” Johnson asked in laughing wonderment years later.

Johnson also made a stamp on the sport through his roles on various boards of directors. In addition to his time with the MHBA, he served for years on the board of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association and pushed to make the organization more accountable to its membership. More recently, he has served with the Virginia Thoroughbred Association (VTA) and had joined the board of the state’s horsemen’s group, the Virginia HBPA.

In his work in Maryland, Johnson was among a small group of people who helped design a more robust system of breeder bonuses that helped the state’s breeding industry bounce back from the lean years that preceded the mid-2010s. In 2012, the state’s foal crop had dropped to just 371; nine years later, it topped 700.

“He was instrumental in shaping the direction of Maryland racing,” said Bruce Quade, who was chairman of the Maryland Racing Commission at the time. “Both behind the scenes and in the spotlight, he helped make racing successful.”

Johnson, like Quade, originally was from Maryland’s Prince George’s County. Johnson later graduated from the University of Maryland, and though Quade said he at first felt a bit intimidated – Johnson was already “well established and highly respected,” Quade said, while he was new to the Commission – the two later became close friends, bonding over their shared background and commitment to improving Maryland racing.

“He was a true friend to me personally, and a steady hand for Maryland racing,” Quade said. “He could see the big picture and guide others to see it, too.”

Johnson also was instrumental in the work to develop Virginia’s certified residency program, which incentivizes horses spending part of their formative years in the Old Dominion. In 2022, he was both Maryland’s leading earner of Maryland Fund awards – the sixth straight year he earned that title – and the leading earner of Virginia certified developer bonuses.

“He helped develop [the certified program] at a time when we didn’t have racing, and our farms and our infrastructure were disappearing,” said VTA executive director Debbie Easter. “Not only did it do what we hoped as far as saving our farms and allowing them to grow, but it’s done other things, like help fill races at Colonial Downs and improve the quality of horses there.”

Johnson is survived by his daughters Tracy and Kelly, as well as grandchildren. Arrangements are pending.

Though many of Johnson’s best-known horses were Maryland-breds, in more recent years, he had moved much of his operation to his Legacy Farm in Bluemont, VA. He had plans to breed over 20 mares this year, a roster that Andrew Motion said was “the best list of stallions I’ve ever seen Larry breed to.”

“His program was really set up to pop, and as his program popped, it was going to be good for Virginia,” Easter said.

“It’s a great loss to Maryland and Virginia,” she added.

For all his work on boards, Johnson’s first love was the game itself: breeding, racing, and handicapping.

“It’s a great ride,” Johnson said prior to the 2024 Belmont weekend, during which his homebred Future Is Now won the Grade 2 Intercontinental and Mindframe, whom he bred and sold, ran second in the Belmont Stakes (G1). “I don’t do this to necessarily make money. I try not to lose money. But it’s weeks like this: if this doesn’t get you going, you really ought to just go into hibernation someplace.”

“He loved this sport; he loved this game, understood all the ins and outs,” said Trombetta, who worked with Johnson for nearly 30 years. “In all the years I’ve worked with him, we never had one cross word or disagreement. Truly, one of my very best friends.”