GONE WERE THE SCUFFED WORK BOOTS AND WORN JEANS FROM THE EARLY days when José Treviño had raced Tempting Dash near Dallas. Now he wore expensively tooled cowboy boots, pressed linen shirts, and a brand-new white Stetson and spent much of his time on airplanes, jet-setting from the Los Alamitos racetrack in Los Angeles to Ruidoso and Dallas to watch over his expanding racing empire.
Increasingly, whenever he visited Graham’s farm, he would pepper him with questions about the breeding business. But it still came as a surprise to Graham when Fernando Garcia casually mentioned in late September 2011 that José was going to open his own stud farm in Oklahoma.
Graham found it hard to believe. José had only been in the industry for less than two years, and horse breeding was a science that took years to master. But by the time Graham had heard the news from Garcia, José had already purchased forty acres in Lexington, a small farming community thirty-five miles south of Oklahoma City. And he was trying to convince a neighboring rancher to sell him sixty acres more.
The next time Graham saw José, he couldn’t help but ask why he wanted to leave his farm. “I thought we had done a good job, been profitable for you,” he said.
José conceded that his new business would be a struggle at first, but “I want to try and do it on my own,” he told Graham, who was relieved to hear that at least José would leave Tempting Dash at his farm for the foreseeable future. Because of the stallion’s blood disease, the horse was more complicated to move and board than the others. But José said he would be sending someone soon to pick up Mr. Piloto and the hundred or so other horses he had at Southwest Stallion Station. José had named his new business Zule Farms after his wife, Zulema. And he’d already designed a cattle brand for the farm—a Z cradled in two half circles, which he had printed in gold on glossy burgundy-colored business cards. He was in the process of moving his wife and two younger children from their tiny brick home in the Dallas suburbs to Lexington. His mother, Maria, would also live there with them. “I feel like I’m living the American dream,” he proudly told Graham.
After José left, Graham phoned Lawson to give him the bad news. If José distanced himself from Graham it would be disastrous for their investigation. They arranged to meet at a restaurant halfway between Elgin and Austin.
The next afternoon, Lawson and Perez sat down at a booth at Cafe 290 to wait for Graham. With the help of Pennington and his task force, they’d been able to trace as many as two hundred horses in the Southwest and California that belonged to José. The former bricklayer was becoming increasingly wealthy, and rapidly dominating American quarter horse racing. Now it looked like he was positioning himself to take over the more lucrative breeding business too. Lawson had noticed how the same insiders who had at first welcomed José’s millions as a salvation for their industry were now starting to become alarmed, as they were forced to sit out auctions because of the spiraling prices that few could afford. They also wondered aloud how Tremor Enterprises in just two years could have won all the top races in the industry, netting more than $2.5 million, a feat not even accomplished by veteran racers after a lifetime in the sport. Drought, casino gambling, and recession already threatened the beleaguered industry. José and Tremor Enterprises posed a new kind of existential threat.
Lawson spotted Graham from a distance in his familiar burgundy baseball cap. He sat down at their booth and ordered an iced tea. By now Perez and Graham had met a couple of times, and Lawson had already explained that Jason Hodge would be leaving Laredo soon, so Perez had taken his place. Graham didn’t seem to mind. The only thing he cared about was that the investigation wrapped up as soon as possible so he could be done with the FBI.
Graham explained what he’d learned from José about his new ranch in Oklahoma.
“Do you think he suspects you of anything?” Lawson asked.
“I don’t know how he thinks he’s going to run a breeding business just like that,” Graham said. He couldn’t hide his annoyance with José’s thinking he could just start a business like the Southwest Stallion Station, which had taken decades of expertise from his grandfather and himself to build. All of the awards and prize money were going to José’s head. “No, he sees me as his competitor now, that’s what’s going on.”
Perez hoped he was right. José cutting Graham off would be nearly as bad as losing the horse breeder as a source. She still had Parlay, but he was so anxious, she wasn’t sure how much longer he’d hold up. “So you’re not worried he’s on to you?”
“No,” Graham said. “I’ve still got Tempting Dash.”
“See if you can get yourself a tour of his ranch,” Lawson suggested.
“I’ll ask,” Graham said. “But I can’t make any promises.”