When Pretty Katherine takes her turn trying to be the equine Miss New Jersey at the Meadowlands this weekend, she’ll have another pretty young lady rooting for her
from afar. The 5-2 second choice, originally named Arockalpyse Wow, in the $150,000 Miss New Jersey on Saturday, is owned by John Liviakis of Mill Valley, California, father of a pretty, young and athletic lady named Katherine and namesake of the $360,698 earner at age two.
“I have a beautiful daughter -- I have three daughters and a son -- but my littlest daughter is Katherine,” Liviakis said. “Of course, I love all my children, but Katherine is the apple of my eye. She’s great in academics and is a beautiful young lady; she’s 12. She’s also a top ballerina and won some regional tap championships and hip hop, jazz, tap, ballet.
“She’s got a wonderful personality. I name a number of my female equines honouring my daughters, my son and my wife as well. This is such a special filly from the day I saw her in the videos, I decided to name her after my daughter Katherine. There’s a Katies Jet, a daughter of Jeremes Jet, and she’s going to make her debut in a month or two. She’s with [trainer] Casie Coleman as well and she’s quite a nice filly.”
Last year, Pretty Katherine won divisions of the Eternal Camnation and Champlain stakes and was second to stablemate Idyllic in the Shes A Great Lady -– all in Canada. Last week, she made her seasonal debut in the Miss New Jersey prep, finishing third behind Krispy Apple and Rocklamation.
Pretty Katherine, a daughter of Rocknroll Hanover-Fox Valley Shaker, was purchased for $120,000 as a yearling. Her mom won the 2004 Sweetheart Pace and her family includes 1961 Little Brown Jug winner Henry T Adios.
Katherine the horse and Katherine the girl have never met.
“I wish they did,” Liviakis said. “We were actually going to fly out to the East Coast when she was going to race in the Breeders Crown [in October at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs]. Then the van got lost and [she was scratched for not reporting on time], so we had to cancel our plane tickets and the hotel; we had a whole trip planned. It was heartbreaking for us.”
Liviakis says Katherine has taken a shine to the horses.
“She loves it; we have thoroughbreds at Hollywood Park and we have a broodmares in Lexington, Kentucky,” he said. “I have about 53 horses in all. I was actually a trainer when I was a young boy; that was 30-some years ago here in California. I’ve been to the USTA in Columbus and am very fond of the whole thing.”
Liviakis funds his operation from his California-based financial services company, Liviakis Financial Communications.
“We’re the largest financial PR firm in the world; I founded this firm 27 years ago,” he said. “I am still with the horses but in order to have as many horses as I have, you have to have a big enough income in the corporate world and that’s what I’ve done. It worked for me.”
Katherine Liviakis will soon be out of school and another cross country trip may be on the calendar.
“I’m definitely planning on that this year,” Liviakas said. “God willing, Pretty Katherine ends up being great this year, which we have no reason to think she won’t be, but you never know in this business. If she is, we’ll make a journey again. Hopefully she’ll be with me to attend a big race this year for Pretty Katherine and also Katies Jet.”
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.