All American Futurity and Derby trials this week
Stolis Winner and PB And Crackers, the top two finishers in the $625,000 Rainbow Futurity, will meet again in the seventh trial to the $2 million All American Futurity on Thursday, August 14 at Ruidoso Downs. Two-year-olds with the 10 fastest times from the 440-yards trials become eligible to race in Quarter racing’s most prestigious event on Labor Day, September 1.
Heartswideopen, winner of last year’s All American Futurity, will be favored to score her ninth straight win from 12 starts, when she heads the trials to the $1 million All American Derby on Friday, August 15 at Ruidoso Downs. An All American Derby win would make Heartswideopen the all-time leading money earning Quarter Horse. Refrigerator currently holds the record with $2,126,309.
Both the All American Futurity and the All American Derby trials will be streamed live at www.aqharacing.com. Post time for the first of 15 Futurity trials is 12:30 p.m. (MDT).
Peppers Pride’s record attempt rescheduled for August 31
The Lincoln Handicap, where Peppers Pride will attempt to set an all-time record of 17 consecutive wins, has been rescheduled for August 31, following record flooding at Ruidoso Downs on July 27. The New Mexico track suffered damage to its racing surface and jockey quarters, but racing resumed on Saturday.
New Mexico-bred Peppers Pride, owned by Texan Joe Allen and trained by Joel Marr, currently shares the record of 16 consecutive wins with Triple Crown winner Citation, two-time Horse of the Year Cigar, and stakes winners Mister Frisky and Hallowed Dreams.
2008 AQHA Youth World Show biggest on record
Following its move from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City this year, the AQHA Youth World Show, which concluded a nine-day run on August 9 at State Fair Park, broke an all-time record with 2,748 entries, an increase of 38 percent over 2007.
Average up at Saratoga yearling Sale
The two-day Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale ended on August 5 with an average of $295,738 on 122 head that sold for $36,080,000. In 2007, 142 horses grossed $41,082,000 for an average of $289,310. This year’s buy-back rate was 25.6 percent compared to 24.5 percent in 2007.
The sale topper at $2 million was a Storm Cat son out of a stakes-winning Mr. Prospector mare, from the family of G1 winner Bluegrass Cat. The colt was consigned by Ben Walden and purchased by Coolmore Stud.