Page 165 - November 2015

AQHRA “Sport Of Speed” Yearling Sale and Futurity
The Alberta Quarter Horse Racing Association “Sport of Speed” Yearling Sale was held Sept. 26 with 28 horses selling for a total of $131,200. The high-seller at $16,000 was Hip #19, Zoomn Gratifies, a yearling gelding consigned by Shady Lane Stables and pur- chased by Shawn Heavyrunner.
Horse Racing, Soccer to Coexist in Tucson
Three new, lighted soccer fields at Rillito Park in Tucson, Arizona, were dedicated on Oct. 24 as part of a $5 million upgrade to the facility, which includes historic Rillito Park Racetrack. For years, the debate has been whether the facility should be a racing complex or a soccer complex, and now it will be both.
Western Montana Turf Club Plan To Race At Missoula
Montana representative Kim Dudik, who is also chairwoman of the Western Montana Turf Club, on Oct. 22 told county commissioners that 3 days of racing at the Western Montana Fair in Missoula in 2016 would help revive the fair and could work into current plans for rejuvenating the fairgrounds by increasing gate and concession sales by over $120,000. The proposal included letters of support from all three Cascade County commissioners, the Great Falls Turf Club, and the Montana Board of Horse Racing. Horse racing had been a staple at every Missoula fair dating back to 1876, the year of the Battle of
the Little Bighorn, but Missoula County ended its investment in horse racing after the 2006
fair. A private company led by Eric Spector of California, revived it for a weekend meet in 2010.
Champion Matabari Retired
According to owner Balgo Racing Team, 2013 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Matabari (Mr Jess Perry-Hold Me Now, Separatist) has been retired after suffering an injured tendon in training. With over $1.4 million in earnings and 7 wins, including the Los Alamitos $2-Million Futurity-G1 and the Los Alamitos Super Derby-G1, Matabari is the all-time leading earner from her sire. The mare will become a full-time broodmare starting in 2016.
Smith sets new QH records at Indiana Grand
Trainer Randy
Smith established
new records at
Indiana Grand
Racing and Casino
by earning 46 wins
and purse money of
over $1.1 million.
Smith, who became
the first Quarter
Horse trainer ever
to top $1 million in earnings for one season, was presented with his second Leading Quarter Horse Trainer award. He is now ranked second on the list of leading Quarter Horse train-
ers at the track. Smith also accepted the 2015 Leading Quarter Horse Owner award for Sheri Miller, who won 12 races during the season.
Wyoming Historical Racing Suspended
The Wyoming Pari-Mutuel Commission revoked its prior approval of Race Tech- supplied historic race machines and games. The Attorney General’s opinion indicated that the machines, although previously approved by the Commission and Attorney General, did not comply with state law. Unfortunately, in reliance on the origi-
nal approval, Wyoming Downs acquired Historic Racing (HR) machines at a cost of over $5 million. As a result of the revoking of the prior approval, Wyoming Downs was
forced to suspend operations in a num-
ber of locations and layoff 45 employees. Wyoming Downs management and remain- ing employees are working on a solution to save the 2016 live race days, but the race season is in jeopardy. Revenue that was going to local municipalities has also stopped.
The Commission is evaluating alternative Historic Racing machines in the hopes of finding a machine that operates in a man- ner consistent with the Attorney General’s opinion, but Wyoming Downs cannot afford to invest more in reliance of Commission approval when that approval may later be revoked based on an Attorney General’s opinion obtained after the acquisition.
Designer Drug Found in Post-Race Test
The Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) has put all racing regulatory agencies worldwide on notice
after the New York Equine Drug Testing Program found the presence of AH-7921
in post-race samples taken from horses that recently ran at Belmont Park. This is the first time AH-7921 has been detected by a racing regulatory lab. The drug is one of the Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) that continue to emerge in the designer drug market. Research has shown that AH-7921 can be as potent as morphine. NPS drugs are believed to be compounded in order to avoid detec- tion by human testing labs.
SPeeDHORSe PHOTO ARCHIveS
Can you identify this picture? Here’s a hint: this photo was taken after one of Quarter Horse racing’s all-time leader’s first ever victories. The answer is on page 165.
SPEEDHORSE, November 2015 163
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