Page 100 - January_2023

202 Y E A R i n 2 REVIEW
its career earns $500,000 or more, wins two or more open Grade 1 stakes races and at least 10 races. KJ Desparado (Apollitical Jess-Tres Veses, Tres Seis) with $2,706,013 earnings so far also earned an AQHA Supreme Race Horse title in November for owners John & Kathy Lee and Ruben Mares.
Trainer John Cooper Retires
Subscribe Today
12 ISSUES
$ 4
9 for
1 * YEAR
*US Only, International $125
Subscription Includes:
• 12 Monthly Issues in Print & Online
• Annual Stallion Register & Barrel Stallion Register ($95 without subscription)
Call (405) 310-4651 or SUBSCRIBE ONLINE at www.speedhorse.com
HERITAGE CHAMPIONS OF THE FUTURE SALE RESULTS
(Dec. 13-15) The Heritage Place Champions
of the Future Foal In Utero Online Sale preliminary results show 26 sold for $503,600 for an average of $19,369. The $80,000 high seller was Hip #15 with a transfer date of Feb. 22, 2022, by Favorite Cartel and out of Wave Her Down by First Down Dash. The foal is out of Grade 1 winner Wave Her Down, a full sister to World Champion Wave Carver and 3-Time Champion Ocean Runaway. The second dam is AQHA Dam of Distinction, AQHA Broodmare of the Year Runaway Wave. The second-highest seller was Hip #14 with a transfer date of April 28, 2022, by PYC Paint Your Wagon and out of Eye On The Candy by Mr Eye Opener. The foal will be a full sibling to stakes winner and New Track Record setter I See Candy Paint.
TRAINER JOHN COOPER RETIRES
(Dec. 18) Trainer John Cooper, 84, retired at Los Alamitos Race Course. In a career that spanned over six decades, Cooper is the #20 all-time leading trainer with over $19 million in Quarter Horse earners, and he ranks #3 all-time at Los Alamitos for number of stakes wins with 121. A native of Idaho, Cooper trained many greats in his day including Champions Moonist, Chingaderos, Separatist, Sign Of Lanty, Cartel Jess Rockin and Mr Doty Bars. He was awarded the 2016 Frank Vessels Memorial Award for his contributions to Quarter Horse racing and is a member of the Idaho Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame. In his final race on Dec. 18, and the last day of the 2022 Los Alamitos racing season, Cooper won the $155,300 Grade 2 Southern California Derby with Boondarbian in wire-to-wire fashion with jockey Cruz Mendez for owners Jerald and Lacie Davenport. “It’s time to retire,” Cooper said. “I feel good about it. I miss my family. They grew up without me. It’s time for me to give back and time for me to spend time with my wife and our children. My daughter lives just down the street from us. I’m happy about that.”
CONNECTED. STAY
speedhorse.com
LOS AL CAMERAMAN WARD RETIRES
(Dec. 18) Longtime Los Alamitos TV Cameraman Hal Ward, 65, retired. Ward
is retiring after over 40 years in the racing industry. He has operated the main television camera for thousands of horse races at the track. Ward graduated from the University of Arizona’s Race Track Industry Program in 1979. Ward worked as a steward’s aide at Del Mar for four years and was a press box assistant at Hollywood Park in the early 1980s. He worked for the Daily Racing Form as a chart taker at Fairplex Park and then moved to Los Alamitos as a TV camera operator. For 25 years, he was the main racing camera operator.
98 SPEEDHORSE January 2023
Los Alamitos
Speedhorse