Page 17 - 28 September 2012

Both Class and stYle!
From Speedhorse, formerly Quarter Racing World, February, 1971 Issue
by Nelson C. Nye
setting: Illinois state Fair
time: 1962
In the Gates: a Real eye opener
Yes, an eye opener of the very first magni- tude. Nothing like it had ever appeared
on that horizon before. As a matter of fact, those folks at the Fair were getting their first in-the-flesh look at running Quarter Horses. It was the first approved and officially sanctioned short horse meet in the state, and the Illinois State Fair Futurity in its initial launching was the showpiece of the program. One could hardly have come up with a better one.
A seven-horse field and no one, but nobody, had a right to expect the caliber of sprinting which came off in that stakes or that any performers of unusual class would be attracted this far from their orbit by a gross purse of $2,500.
O.M. Woodson, a trainer of some magnitude, fetched a filly of his breeding clean from Claremore, Oklahoma. He called her Kimaleta. She was by Mr. Bar None out of the match race mare Bonna Lita, by Leo. Carl Mercer’s Echo Ranch at Ada, Oklahoma, sent Uncle Van, by Vandy II out of Aunt Amie, by Leo. And Merle Bourne fetched Sandy Bolo, by Sandy Bar out of Bayola, by the Cardwell-bred Bolo. These were the ones that picked up the paychecks.
The gates banged open and, running against a headwind, the field took off. A two-horse
race very swiftly developed as Uncle Van and Kimaleta barreled down the stretch. Neck and neck they drove for the wire. You could not have said which would get there first. It was a harness horse track with hardly any cushion. The sound of their hoofs made the kind of a racket generally heard when somebody bangs on an oil drum.
The Chart Book says, and I quote Jim Goodhue: “The incredible time of :16.7 was posted after Kimaleta won the 330-yard Illinois State
Fair Futurity. If accepted by the AQHA Racing Committee, this will constitute a new World Record (two tenths of a second faster than the current record), a new mare record, and a new 2-year-old filly record. Uncle Van, which ran second by a neck in the time of :16.8, will be credited with a new stallion record and a new 2-year-old colt record if the time is accepted as official. There were three and a quarter lengths back to the third place Sandy Bolo.”
The time was accepted. Two new stars emerged from that sprint.
Woodson says: “Up to the trials for the Newkirk Futurity I had given Kimaleta a total of 10 starts, all of which she won and nine of which I collected on. Here in the brush you are lucky if you win 10 races and collect nine times.
World Record setter Kimaleta with her owner/trainer O. M. Woodson and jockey Odis Craighead following a victory at Clear Fork Downs in 1963.
In the Newkirk trials there were 17 entries, three gates of four and one of five. Kimaleta won her heat in :16.1 by daylight. In the 300-yard finals she was away first and again was first by daylight in :16.1 with her jockey standing up.
“At Enid there were 91 entries for the big futurity. In times like these I pay very little attention to the horses I am in with. You know and can feel the tenseness of the other jockeys and trainers. This is the hour of business. Every detail is so important. We speak in lower voice, all eyes are watching.
“We were in Gate 3. We loaded second and tailboards snapped methodically as other gates were loaded. Very little noise. A jockey said, “No chance, no chance.’ Then quiet. Then bang—they’re off! Kimaleta away first—by this time she was getting real hot away from the latch. Dust hanging over everything.
Ten seconds later I could see them, Charles Waterson down on Kimaleta just shaking his stick a little. I thought she had won it, and when I saw my family move out on the track
I knew she had. My! My! What a sweet pony! Jimmie Charge was second, Dynamo Leo third. We had put away 83 head, but seven still separated us from that pot of shekels.
“When you are in that last gateful you wonder what part of it is yours. As in the Newkirk, Kimaleta had the number three slot. I remember Montecarlo Bar was in seven and Mr. Juniper Bar was in eight. I recalled that N.R. Negraletta, dam of Montecarlo Bar, had outrun Bonna Lita 10 years before in this same classic. Both by Mr. Bar None.
“The gate loaded good and then they were away, Kimaleta taking her place once more at
the head of the class and staying there for about 250 yards, at which point Mr. Juniper Bar took over and won decisively by three lengths—330 yards in :17.2 on an off track. Kimaleta ran second, Montecarlo Bar third.
“In Illinois the track was so hard I wanted to come home, but we took a roll a it and won our trial in :17.5 under a good hold. Uncle Van ran second and Overtime Bar third. We ran back the next day in front of 7,000 people. By soaking the track the morning of the main event they thought they could give us a sponge to run on, but by post time a horse couldn’t make a track even an Injun could see. Kimaleta was quiet until we were called, then I could hardly keep her head away from the grandstand.
“I never saw a more eager gate of horses. Kimaleta had number six. When they called for Joe Float he flounced and his bridle broke and we went without him. Kimaleta broke her best, which was good enough, and 40 yards out of the gate the horse on her left had plenty of room to go in behind her. I had Otis Craighead on her. In the final strides Mr. Carl Mercer’s Uncle Van moved up to Kimaleta’s cinch and copped second money. Sandy Bolo, winner of the Michigan Quarter Horse Futurity, was third.
“Craighead told me that at about 250 yards the mare ran as if her feet were burning, but
I believe it was her ankle. In her second work after I returned home she developed osselot trouble. You could imagine my surprise when they announced her time under 124 as :16.7 for the 330-yards. My! I had never heard of a horse running that fast!”
SPEEDHORSE, September 28, 2012 17
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