Police Officer Hopes Racehorse Will Become the Next Citation

He named the horse “Club Dev,” after the Devonshire Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, but Officer Tom Culotta says there’s nothing slow about the 2-year-old thoroughbred that he and his wife plan to enter in races at Hollywood Park next month.

The couple and a professional trainer have put the horse under a rigorous conditioning routine, preparing her for the big day when the gates open for her first real race at the end of the park’s fall-winter meeting in December.

It will also be a big day for Culotta and his fellow officers from the Devonshire station in Northridge, who have been waiting for months to see Club Dev race. The horse’s name is in honor of the many Devonshire Division officers who followed Culotta’s fascination with horse-racing since he began training another of his six horses for the races about two years ago.

But that horse, Christopher Jones, suffered a leg injury just before she was scheduled to race last year, so Culotta decided to try his luck with Club Dev. Anticipation is running particularly high because Club Dev had to be withdrawn from a race this month when she came down with an infection.

“There’s been guys that have discussed whether we should rent a bus and drink mint juleps and watch the horse run for the rose,” Culotta said. “I’ve had guys tell me they wouldn’t put down more than two bucks, and I’ve had others say they’ll check their pensions.”

Whether or not they put any money on the horse, the officers will be rooting for Club Dev with the same enthusiasm as big-time betters, Culotta said.

“We can’t let Club Dev run alone.” said Sgt. Tom Wade, Culotta’s supervisor and the head of the Devonshire station’s anti-gang unit.

“It seems like a neat thing to do,” said Capt. Mark Stevens, commander of the Devonshire Division.

The division’s Club Dev monicker originated about eight years ago with a group of Devonshire officers who were trying to name a campaign to raise funds for athletic facilities at the station, said Sgt. David Johnson. Since then, the Devonshire division has become known throughout the department as Club Dev, partly because of its modern exercise equipment but mostly because officers considered it slow-paced, Johnson said.

But, Johnson said, “That is sort of a myth. It’s not unusual for officers to handle 20 radio calls a night. Maybe at one time that might have been true, but with the city growing like it is, this is no longer a nice, quiet division.”

Culotta said he got the idea for raising a racehorse after he and his wife, Zoe, moved to Acton six years ago and started attending auctions for show horses, which Zoe used to ride as a youngster. But the more they got into the search, the more they became interested in racehorses, eventually buying a thoroughbred mare for about $2,200.

They bred the mare with a stallion and raised the foal as a racer, saving the expense of buying a trained racehorse, which typically costs between $50,000 and $60,000, Culotta said.

They managed to get around the prohibitive expense of training a racehorse by finding a licensed trainer--Ian Jory--who agreed to prepare Club Dev for racing in exchange for Zoe Culotta providing free care for other horses at Hollywood Park, Culotta said.

Among other requirements, horses must have a licensed trainer before they can work out at Hollywood Park and enter the races, park spokesman Craig Peterson said.

“If it weren’t for my wife and her knowledge, and the assistance of Ian Jory, I could not afford to be here,” Culotta said. Jory is in England and could not be reached for comment this week.

And if Club Dev fails? “We have small children” with whom the couple would like to spend more time, he said. “If she’s not successful, we will curtail our breeding activities until the children are older.”

But for now, losing is the last thing on Culotta’s mind.

“She’s definitely an eye-catcher at the track,” he said. “We think she has everything it takes to be a racehorse.”