Columnist Susan Snyder: Pioche serves as homestretch

Monday, Jan. 10, 2005 | 8:16 a.m.

If Pioche is inundated with thousands of visitors this summer, residents may have Tara Clark to thank.

Clark, 42, is a contestant in "American Derby," the Game Show Network's newest contribution to the reality television game genre. The first of the show's eight episodes airs at 9 p.m. today (in Las Vegas GSN is available to digital television subscribers on the variety tier).

Twelve horse lovers from across the country are competing for the grand prize of eight racing thoroughbreds and $250,000. Contestants worked as stable hands or racehorse owners, depending on how they fared in ongoing challenges.

Clark said it was an eye-opener even for her -- a trainer who has worked with horses most of her life. She received her first horse when she was about 7, six months after her family moved to Las Vegas from New York.

She owned four Las Vegas Valley ranches, moving each time a subdivision encroached on her property lines. In 2003, she finally bought a ranch in Pioche, 175 miles northeast of Las Vegas on U.S. 93.

"I thought if I'm going to move all this stuff, I'm going to go someplace cooler," Clark said.

At 6,000 feet, Pioche definitely is cooler. With a population of about 900, developers aren't a threat. And it's close enough to Las Vegas to catch a plane to Los Angeles, where Clark works periodically as a stunt double and precision stunt-horse driver.

A horse trainer since 1988, Clark opened her Amazon Ranch to a summer youth program she calls Camp Camelot (www.campcamelot.us).

"We ride English, and we do everything from the ground up," Clark said.

Children learn about grooming and cleaning stalls, in addition to riding and showing techniques. They ride to American Indian petroglyphs and natural hot springs. Those who are capable even get to do some jumping. At the end of the week, all campers compete in a show for prizes and fun.

Clark said her long history as a trainer of champions and wide variety of riding experiences helps her offer a broad spectrum to the campers who are 8 to 14 years old.

"I ride every discipline on the planet," she said. "I'm probably the only girl jouster you know. I'd just rather teach now than take the hit."

The only type of riding and training Clark hasn't done was the one needed to win "American Derby."

"I was never interested in racing," she said.

She had long assumed that racehorses were mistreated and thought it sad they were forced to retire at age 4.

"But I have greater respect for the sport now," Clark said. "If I win, I probably would run one or two of these horses, which I never in a million years thought I would do."

A big "if." While the ins and outs of the game's ongoing competitions are secret, the overall outcome hasn't been determined. The final episode is a live Feb. 21 broadcast of the contestants' horses racing at California's historic Santa Anita Park.

"I'm really looking forward to it," Clark said of the February race. "This game's still in play."

If she wins, Clark said she knows where at least one of those thoroughbreds will end up.

"One I took a real liking to. I'd just like to bring him here," she said.