Temecula’s Historic Equestrian Center Chosen for LA28 Olympics Feb. #, 2025 – The Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympic Games (LA28) proposed Temecula’s Galway Downs, formerly the Rancho California Track and Training Center, last fall for its equestrian events venue. Pending city approval, the center will host dressage, eventing and show jumping and will celebrate its 60-year anniversary in July 2028.

Galway Downs was built and opened in 1968 by former real-estate developer Kaiser Aetna as part of its master-planned community, Rancho California. The Rancho California project spanned 95,000 acres of housing, farmland and backcountry that now comprise Temecula and Murrieta, and Kaiser Aetna developed campgrounds, a central shopping plaza and a luxury golf resort to draw residents and businesses.

Along with fishing, boating and a variety of sports, Kaiser Aetna began advertising its resources for equestrians to promote the sale of ranchland, with the Rancho California Track and Training Center as the crown jewel. The center boasted state-of-the-art facilities for its time including 12’ by 12’ stalls, electric hotwalkers, a trailer park for track personnel and a licensed clocker for time trials every Saturday. The Los Caballos Veterinary Hospital on site claimed that “the surgery here rivals those created for humans,” advertising the latest surgical equipment and temperature-controlled stalls. In 1980, Fran Delaney purchased the training center from Kaiser Aetna, rebranding it as Galway Downs. However, the center nearly saw its end after the Tax Reform Act of 1986 changed the way racehorses were classified and taxed, causing many owners to sell horses or leave the industry altogether. After further tax reforms, several changes of hands and a few failed housing initiatives, Galway Downs was eventually purchased by Ken and Tina Smith in 2010.

The Smith family, Temecula locals since 1986, operate the complex as a multipurpose center, offering wedding and event spaces and running a youth sports complex to supplement the necessary income for maintaining and updating Galway Downs’ equestrian facilities. Over 50 years after Kaiser Aetna’s initial plans, the center continues serving the Southern California equestrian community and prepares to step up to the world stage at LA28.

– Lilith Christopher