Page 38 - 23 November 2012

Golden State Million Futurity-G1
One DaShinG eaGle
by Stacy Pigott
The race for World Champion got a lot more interesting on Nov. 4, when One Dashing Eagle won the $1,073,000 Golden State Million Futurity-G1 at Los Alamitos. With the win, One Dashing Eagle became the first Quarter Horse to ever win three million-dollar races. He previously won the $1,041,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity on June 24 at Los Alamitos and the $2,400,000 All American Futurity on Sept. 3 at Ruidoso Downs. The Golden State winner’s share of $450,660 also increased One Dashing Eagle’s earnings to an all-time single season record of $2,079,065. He is the first Quarter Horse to earn $2 million in a single season and his 2012 earnings topped the previous all-time single season mark set
by World Champion Stoli of $1,820,437. Assuming that One Dashing Eagle will, at
the least, walk away with the title of 2012 Champion 2-Year-Old, he has the chance to join a very short and elite list of racehorses. Only four times since 1976 has the Champion 2-Year-Old also earned the title of World Champion—Special Effort in 1981, Merganser in 1988, Winalota Cash in 1995 and Stolis Winner in 2008.
“He’s such an amazing animal. He gives his best every time. We don’t need to do anything major to him. He just gets
out there and does his job,”
said One Dashing Eagle’s
trainer, Jose De La Torre.
“I don’t think we’ll ever see
another horse of this caliber.
I just think he’s got a gift.
He’s something special.”
Gregorio Racing Stables, which co-owns One Dashing Eagle with brothers Jose and Gustavo De La Torre, gave a spot-on interpretation of the race from the winner’s circle.
“Our main concern was getting out of the gates clean. I knew if he gets out of the gates clean, it’s really hard to catch him. He’s an amazing horse. Every single time he gives us a different surprise. Like
tonight. He just gets stronger
and stronger and stronger.
When he broke out of the gate,
I said to myself, we’re up on
top!” said Carmona. “For a
minute there they were pretty
close, he didn’t have them by a
lot. In the first three jumps he
got away from them a little bit,
and they kind of run up on
him a little bit, and after that,
he just opened up.”
Jockey Ramon Sanchez
added, “(Amore La Blue) was
with me for about 100 yards. I turned my head for a little, and when I crossed the wire, nobody was behind me.”
Or at least, nobody was close. One Dashing Eagle crossed the finish line 2 1/4 lengths
in front of 47-1 longshot Separate Interest, who was a head in front of Amore La Blue, at odds of 9-1. One Dashing Eagle was such an overwhelming 1-5 favorite in the Golden State Million that show wagering was suspended on the 10-horse field.
One Dashing Eagle ends his 2-year-old season with a record of six wins in seven starts,
the only blemish on his record a second-place finish in his debut in a maiden race on April 29. The talented colt is not eligible for the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity-G1, which is the third leg of the Los Alamitos Bonanza. His wins in the first two legs—the Ed Burke Million and the Golden State Million— would have given him a shot at the $1 million bonus for winning the Bonanza had
he gone on to “The Deuce,” as it is familiarly known. Instead, he heads into the winter with another season of racing ahead of him. While several parties had expressed interest in stand- ing One Dashing Eagle at stud in 2013, and
Los Alamitos $1,073,000 • 400 yards :19.242 • si 98
Mr Jess Perry
One Famous Eagle
One Famous Lady
ONE DASHING EAGLE, ’10-c.
First Down Dash
One Sweet Dash
Sweet Beduino
Fans at Los Alamitos Race Course got to see just how special One Dashing Eagle is in the Golden State Million. Despite being held behind the gates for several minutes while a shoe was fixed on Gold Flames On Fire, One Dashing Eagle turned in a memorable performance. Ridden by Ramon Sanchez, the sorrel colt won the Golden State Million with ease and in stakes record time. His 400- yard time of :19.242 broke the previous stakes record of :19.30 set by Tres Passes in 2008. Jorge Carmona, of San
One Dashing Eagle’s owners—Gustavo De La Torre, his brother and trainer Jose De La Torre, and Jorge Carmona, of San Gregorio Racing Stables.
36 SPEEDHORSE, November 23, 2012
Racing news
Stacy Pigott: Speedhorse