 During his summers off from junior and senior high school, he went to California, where he worked as a hot walker for Henry Moreno at Hollywood Park and Del Mar Racetracks.He graduated from James Madison High School in San Antonio, Texas in 1985 and began college at the University of Arizona in their Race Track Industry Program in the fall of that year.Between his sophomore and junior years, he worked as a groom for D. Wayne Lukas at Arlington Park near Chicago.