Page 122 - June 2015

Speedhorse Graham Paint & Appaloosa Futurity-G1
PAINTED TURNPIKE
by Tracy Gantz
Nolan Pevehouse has tried to get a horse into the Speedhorse Graham Paint & Appaloosa Futurity-G1 for years. “Herb
Graham started it, and back then you had to breed to one of his stallions,” Pevehouse said. “I bred to Texas Hero four or five times and entered all of the colts. But they would shin buck or crack a cannon bone, and I never even got into the trials.”
When Pevehouse finally did get a colt into the trials, he not only won it, he won the finals, worth $81,130 to the winner. Painted Turnpike may be one of the finest Paints to come along in some time. He took an undefeated record into the May 30 Speedhorse Graham and came out of the finals still unbeaten.
“He hadn’t had anything run close to him until Saturday,” Pevehouse said. “The 3 horse acted up in the gate, and my colt false broke. It addled him a little bit.”
Most horses faced with that kind of dif- ficulty at the start would pack it in. Painted Turnpike did get away from the gate slower than he normally does. Jockey Cody Smith, who has ridden him in all of his starts, asked Painted Turnpike for more, and the colt responded to take the lead midway through the 350 yards. Horses on the outside surged up to challenge, and Painted Turnpike rebuffed them to win by a head in :17.567.
Matt Whitekiller trains Painted Turnpike for Pevehouse. The colt has now started five times, all at Remington. He went through his trials and finals of the Oklahoma Paint and Appaloosa Futurity-G1 and Victoria Ennis Memorial Paint & Appaloosa Stakes before also acing his Speedhorse Graham trial.
Pevehouse said that he put a lot of founda- tion on Painted Turnpike, a tip he received years ago from the late Walter Merrick. Back then Pevehouse was racing the Quarter Horse filly Turnpike Patty, the fifth dam of Painted Turnpike. “Doc, I’ve ridden horses all my life, but I’ve never prepared one for the racetrack,” Pevehouse told Merrick.
Merrick told him that it was “no big deal” and asked him if he had competed in athletic events in high school and how he prepared
for them. Pevehouse replied that to train for competing in a mile race, he would jog at least five miles three to five times a week. “Just treat those horses like you train yourself,” said Merrick, who advised him to pony the horses extensively. “It won’t hurt them.”
Pevehouse, now 84 and retired from
riding for several years, had a full-time job at the time. He recalled how he would come home, saddle his pony horse, and condition the young race- horses in the pasture, going a couple of miles every night.
He may not have gotten any of his Paints into the Speedhorse Graham, but Pevehouse has had plenty of success with that family.
Turnpike Patty was stakes-placed, and when bred to Easy Jet, she produced multiple stakes winner Turnpike’s Jet, Painted Turnpike’s fourth dam.
Pevehouse bred Turnpike’s Jet to Special Effort and got Turnpike Special, the third dam. “She had health problems as a 2 year old,” said Pevehouse.
As a result, Turnpike Special only won one of 12 races. But she produced several useful Paints for Pevehouse, many to the cover of Graham’s stallion Texas Hero, including Turnpikes Texas Hero, the second dam of Painted Turnpike. Turnpikes Texas Hero’s foals include stakes- placed Turnpike Country, by Country Quick Dash, and Wagon On Turnpike, a daughter of PYC Paint Your Wagon who ran second in this year’s Speedhorse Graham Paint and Appaloosa Derby-G1. The mare to the cover of SF Royal Quick Flash produced stakes-placed High Class Turnpike, the Paint Champion Running 3 Year Old and Champion Running 3-Year-Old Filly of 2007 and the dam of Painted Turnpike.
High Class Turnpike has produced three starters and two winners, including Gitter Dun Turnpike, who ran fifth in this year’s Speedhorse Graham Derby. Gitter Dun Turnpike, Painted Turnpike, and the yearling colt from the mare are all by PYC Paint Your Wagon. High Class Turnpike has no 2015 foal, but Pevehouse said that she is in foal to Champion Brace For Bernal.
Painted Turnpike now can go for the Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa Triple Crown, which includes the Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa Futurity at Fair Meadows and the Speedhorse Lone Star Paint & Appaloosa Futurity. Pevehouse would love to win it because his good friend Charles Leggett just missed last year with Champion Texas Silk.
“He’s training sound and has no problems whatsoever,” Pevehouse said of his outstanding Paint colt.
Remington Park $213,500 • 350 yards :17.567 • si 88
Corona Cartel
PYC Paint Your Wagon QH
Dashin Follies
PAINTED TURNPIKE, ’13-c.
SF Royal Quick Flash
High Class Turnpike
Turnpikes Texas Hero
Painted Turnpike & Cody Smith win the $213,500 Speedhorse Graham Paint & Appaloosa Futurity
120 SPEEDHORSE, June 2015
RACING NEWS
Dustin Orona Photography