Page 14 - June 2017

The MonTh in review
by Jennifer K. Hancock
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Jennifer K. Hancock
SpeedhorSe Cover ArtiSt Ginny hArdinG
The very talented Ginny Harding has once again created an amazing cover for the June broodmare issue of Speedhorse Magazine. Showing even the smallest details, Ginny’s artwork truly captures the likeness of the Co-Broodmares of the Year Jenuine Joy and Jess Send Candy, just as it does with any of her subjects.
Ginny credits Millie Vessels for encouraging her to pursue her art. Vessels commissioned Harding to create artwork for a calendar featuring the first Champion of Champions winners. Millie purchased all 12 pieces and that caught the attention of many people and helped spread Ginny’s name.
Harding’s artwork is branded as Ginny Harding Equine Classics, and her gallery at the foot of the Horse Heaven Hills in Kennewick, Washington,
is named Horse Heaven Gallery. Harding shares
her immense archives and knowledge with her fans through her gallery’s Facebook page at www.facebook. com/horseheavengallery.
Speedhorse gives a round of applause to Harding for once again sharing her talent recounting Quarter Horse racing’s Champions, stakes winners and beloved athletes and their connections with her artistic talents. Thank you, Ginny!
SAm thompSon AwArd nomineeS
With the arrival of June, 2017 is speeding to its halfway point and the action is heating up at tracks across the country. The Thoroughbred Triple Crown wrapped up just as American Quarter Horses begin their quest for history in their version of the Triple
Crown beginning with the Ruidoso Futurity on June 11. The second leg is the Rainbow Futurity on July 23, and the All American Futurity, the sprinters’ crown jewel, will run on Labor Day, Sept. 4. The 2017 Sam Thompson Memorial Jockey Award winner will be announced that weekend on Sept. 3.
Five Quarter Horse jockeys have been nominated for the 2017 Sam Thompson Memorial Jockey
Award, which honors riders whose lives and character positively impact the Quarter Horse racing industry, both on and off the racetrack. The nominees are: Cesar De Alba, Jorge Martin Bourdieu, Alfonso Lujan, Esgar Ramirez, and Ricky Ramirez.
The Sam Thompson Memorial Jockey award is
a peer elected award. Ballots are mailed to Quarter Horse tracks around the country in May and June to be distributed amongst the active jockey colony. The nominee with the most votes will be presented with the Sam Thompson Memorial Jockey Award during a special ceremony at Ruidoso Downs.
The award is named after the late Sam Thompson, a Quarter Horse jockey who was well liked and highly respected both on and off the racetrack. Thompson died in 2008 due to injuries suffered in a riding accident at Los Alamitos. A leader in the jockeys’ room throughout his career, Thompson was a Jockeys’ Guild senator and the room representative at Los Alamitos. He was also a council member of the Los Alamitos division of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America.
Developed as a joint effort between Speedhorse Magazine and the Jockeys’ Guild, the Sam Thompson Memorial Jockey Award was modeled after the prestigious George Woolf Memorial Award for
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SPEEDHORSE, June 2017
Track chaTTer