Canyon Lake legend, developer, Ron Hartley dies

Photos provided by Hartley family

The City of Canyon Lake’s past and current residents are mourning the Jan. 27 death of a true Canyon Lake pioneer and legend, Ron Hartley, 81. Ron and his family moved to Canyon Lake 44 years ago — 15 years before it became a city, making the family among the city’s most historic families.

Although nationally, Ron is most known for his involvement in the racehorse industry, it’s Ron’s involvement in the commercial properties within the Canyon Lake community that will keep his name in the area history books forever. For the past four decades, he supervised a very prominent commercial development business, HUB Enterprises.

Ron and his family came to Canyon Lake in 1976. He was working as a racing secretary for various horse racing tracks and fairs at the time, making quite a name for himself. But, an invitation to purchase commercial property in the 1970s during Canyon Lake’s infancy, changed his trajectory forever.

“My father in law had a real estate office (in Canyon Lake),” Ron was quoted as saying in a piece written about him in an international horse racing magazine. “There was nothing there. No stop signs, no stop lights, not even a restaurant, but he kept buying property. He called me one day and said ‘you’re going to buy this property,’ so I did. I ended up managing the property and things grew from there.”

“Grew from there,” is a massive understatement. Ron stepped back from the various tasks as a racing official and established a property management company in Canyon Lake. He would eventually own shopping centers and various real estate properties, most notably in Canyon Lake and Menifee.

HUB Enterprises was founded by Ron, his father-in-law Alfred Barillaro and his brother-in-law Larry Uebersetzig after the three partnered in Canyon Lake Realty in the 1970s. Ron saw Canyon Lake’s commercial potential and left his horse racing career to focus on commercial developments. As Menifee grew later, he bought up acres of prime commercial real estate alongside Interstate 215 and developed commercial buildings and centers there.

Ron was the go to person for anything commercial in Canyon Lake and was often called upon by city officials, local business owners, commercial property owners and anyone who needed questions answered or problems solved. Ron was eager to help and readily jumped in when called upon.

Ron was named a Canyon Lake’s Citizen of the Year and was instrumental in the creation of the Veterans Memorial Park in the Canyon Lake Town Center.

Much like his life shifted to commercial development in the 1970s because of a single offer to purchase property in Canyon Lake, his later life, although still active in his Canyon Lake and Menifee business, would shift to owning and racing Quarter Horses because of a singular moment.

In 1990, a friend invited him to a horse racing production sale. At the sale, an acquaintance came up to Ron, reached in his pocket and handed him a ticket. “If you want a horse, this is a good one to buy,” he told him.

“I bought her and the first time she ran we won,” Ron said at the time. The acquaintance trained the filly, whose name was Joy Of Six.

Ron was smitten and fell in love with owning Quarter Horses immediately. He was successful in the new venture, but was especially proud of a 2014 gelding he had bred, named Moonist. The Quarter Horse set a track record with four derby victories, including a win in the Golden State Derby, the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship and Go Man Go Handicap. Moonist finished second in the Champion of Champions. He would then win his first four starts of 2016, before the gelding succumbed to colic. Moonist earned $878,468 in his career.

Ron owned other Quarter Horses and had substantial success, including, most recently, with Cartel Jess Rockin, the leading money-earning filly in the nation in 2019 with $843,940, Cartel Jess Rockin was named the AQHA champion 2-year-old filly last year.

“I’m so glad that I came back because I just love the sport,” Ron said in a 2006 interview. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a trial or a claiming race because a win is always exciting. I also feel that working at Los Alamitos made it possible for me to acquire property, so I (wanted) to put something back into the game. Being selected for the Frank Vessels award was one of my greatest moments in Quarter Horse racing. It was a huge honor and I couldn’t even think of words to say as I was standing at that podium.”

Ron was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on March 1, 1938. His family moved to California when he was six and he graduated from Montebello High School in 1957. After graduation, he joined the Air National Guard and served from 1956 to 1963. While in high school, Ron met the love of his life, Jeryl Barillaro and they were married in 1960.

Through high school, Ron trained thoroughbred horses with his father. He was involved in nearly every aspect of horse racing since starting his career at the age of 19, becoming one of the youngest trainers on the Southern California circuit.

Services will be held at the Canyon Lake Community Church on March 6 at 11:00 a.m. A Celebration of Life will be held at Los Alamitos Racetrack on March 19 at 11:30 a.m. at the Vessels Club.