Page 24 - New Mexico Horse Breeder Summer 2018

trial and they ran 18 trials that day. I watched the wind and the flag all day and held my breath. He ran third in his trials, but he qualified.’’
“We made the big time. We’ll probably never make it again, but we did play with the big boys once.’’
Toughest Test earned $130,712 and eventually Jerry sold him for $15,000. His new owners, says Jerry, took him to run in Mexico.
My Task Master made the consolation race of the All American Futurity in 1998.
Balderinas Fame Cr was Jarrett’ first racehorse. The horse, which earned $120,000 during his four-year-old season at the track, is still on the Rogers Farm.
Jarrett was still in elementary school when Jerry Rogers paid $8,000 for Always My Place. Longtime New Mexico horse owner and breeder Mike Weatherly bought the horse for Rogers at a sale in California.
Jerry Rogers says Weatherly bought five horses at that sale and told Rogers, Always My Place was his.
“I didn’t get to pick and he turned out to be the best of all five,’’ says Jerry.
Always My Place was a multiple stakes winner who won at distances from 5 1/2 furlongs to
a mile. He was named Horse of The Meet at Sunland Park (1996-97) and won the Colorado Derby. He would earn $91,561 during his racing career, a significant amount of money given that back then purses in New Mexico were much smaller than they are today.
“He was probably one of the best (Thoroughbreds) to come through New Mexico until Mine That Bird and Peppers Pride came along,’’ says Jarrett. “He won everything there was to win around here.’’
Always My Place suffered a fatal injury during the running of the Ruidoso Mile at Ruidoso Downs on Sept. 5, 1998.
“We were going to run him one more time, retire him and let him stand,’’ said Jerry. “He was coming out of the backstretch, stepped in a hole and snapped his leg.’’
Despite the efforts of vets to save the horse, he had to be euthanized.
“I was ready to quit after that,’’ says Jerry. “He was going to be one of the best studs in New Mexico.’’
Jarrett says his grandfather had insured Always My Place and used part of that money to purchase Toughest Test. Luck is always part of horse racing and sometimes the good kind manages to find its way into your trailer.
Take Good Looker RF for example.
Jerry and Jarrett found her—or more accurately she found them—on Richard Brunacini’s and Kay Thurman’s farm in Belen.
“We were loading some horses and Kay said we needed to take this horse,’’says Jerry. “She (Good Looker RF) was a baby and apparently
doesn’t get much better than this. Good Looker RF went on to win $266,539 racing and now is among the three broodmares on the farm. The other two are the Quarter Horse JJs Fast Gal and the Thoroughbred mare Dandy Devonna.
JJs Fast Gal produced JJs Fast Cash, who has won over $100,000 and is still competing. The Rogers Farm has a two-year-old New Mexico bred full brother to Jjs Fast Cash named Jerry James. He’s expected to make his racing debut at Ruidoso Downs this summer.
Dandy Devonna, a winner of the Dessie Sawyer Futurity in Albuquerque during her time racing, has produced a 2-year-old filly named Sheza Dandy RF that’s in training.
Since Jarrett’s return to Clint, the farm has made some notable changes.
The Rogers have cut back on the number of horses on the farm and expanded into the area of pecan trees. Last year they planted between 5,000 and 6,000 pecan trees— currently the hot button crop in the valley. It
takes seven to eight years for the pecan trees to start producing, but as Jerry points out, pecan farmers can make four times more money from that crop than cotton.
Most of the farm is still planted in cotton and the farm still has a herd of cattle. Jerry notes that he’s always been in the cattle business, having started out with five head.
Jarrett and his wife Ana raise the Corriente breed of cattle that he leases out as roping stock for rodeos all over Texas and New Mexico.
Jarrett’s return to help run the family farm very likely insured that the Rogers continued to breed and race horses.
“I was going to get rid of all the horses, I was ready to quit’’ said Jerry. “He (Jarrett) said “no granddad, let me run them.’’’
The health issues that his grandparents are facing, along with the fact that Jarrett’s dad was
in a car accident about 10 years ago that left him with a bad knee, ultimately made Jarrett’s decision
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Jerry told Thurman he didn’t need another horse, especially one that looked
like she might be crippled. Thurman persisted and when she set the price at $1,000, Jerry told them to load her up.
Well as blind luck goes, it
fence and was al cut up.
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22 New Mexico Horse Breeder
Jarrett w/ Short Cake, his first pony
Jarrett was star QB for the Clint Lions