Throughout his life, Bruce Headley was never far from a racehorse. From his youth visiting an uncle who trained, to his teenage years as an exercise rider at a Southern California ranch, and finally the start of his own training career at 25, Headley was involved with horses nearly every day of his life. Even when Headley left his stable at Santa Anita each morning for his nearby home in Arcadia, Calif., his spacious backyard was home to several young prospects and a few veterans being prepared for comebacks. Headley died on Friday of the effects of a stroke at Arcadia Methodist Hospital across the street from Santa Anita, according to track officials. Headley was 86. While his day-to-day involvement in training was reduced in recent years, Headley maintained a small stable under the direction of his daughter Karen, also a trainer. The barn has runners in the first two races on Saturday at Santa Anita. While Headley was a fixture in Southern California among trainers since the 1960s, his stable grew in national prominence in the late 1980s and early 2000s with the success of runners such as Kona Gold, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs in 2000; and multiple graded stakes winners such as Arson Squad, Bertrando, Got Koko, Kalookan Queen, Silveyville, Softshoe Sure Shot, Street Boss, Son of a Pistol, Surf Cat, and Variety Road. Kona Gold was the champion sprinter of 2000, and his six-year career from 1998 to 2003 was a never-ending source of pride for Headley, who had an affinity with sprinters. Kona Gold ran in five consecutive runnings of the BC Sprint from 1998 to 2002, and was third in 1998 and second in 1999. In other Breeders’ Cup races, Headley was third in the inaugural running of the Juvenile Fillies with Fine Spirit in 1984 at Hollywood Park, third in the 2003 Distaff at Santa Anita with Got Koko, and saddled Street Boss to a third as the 2-1 favorite in the 2008 Sprint at Santa Anita. Headley often had an ownership share in his horses, who had a tendency to stick around. Silveyville and Son of a Pistol were stakes winners at 8 and raced at the age of 9. Softshoe Sure Shot won the Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita in 1995 at 9. Kona Gold was a champion at 6 and a stakes winner at the ages of 5 through 9. Bertrando was trained by Headley as a 2- and 3-year-old. In 1991 as a 2-year-old, Bertrando won the Grade 2 Del Mar Futurity and Grade 1 Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita and was second to Arazi in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs. At 3, Betrando had two starts for Headley, including a win in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes and a second to A.P. Indy in the Santa Anita Derby.  Headley was most comfortable at Santa Anita, where he could often be found holding court at Clocker’s Corner several mornings a week after training. He exercised his own horses into his 70s and had the same barn on the south side of the stable area for decades. Headley is survived by his wife, Aase, and his children, Karen and Gus, who are both active trainers in Southern California.