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rella of the Quarter Racing World
Pass Over and Tad Ober
Winner of the prestigious Kansas Quarter Horse Futurity at Ruidoso Downs on June 10, 1973, the filly showed her remarkable speed in captur- ing the $353,250 classic. Her time of :17.54 was mighty close to the track record of :17.48.
The race itself indicated the filly was des- tined to win it. Pass Over stumbled badly break- ing out of the gate. In the Kansas trials, the filly had trouble starting and her time was :18.10. This was the sixth fastest qualifying time in the first division for the finals.
Like with Cinderella, Pass Over seems to have a fairy godmother, too. Her trainer, James
P. Bertrand, put it this way: “She always come off slow. She always runs with the pack for about 150 yards. When asked by the rider, Pass Over just seems to leave the rest of the field and off she goes.
“In the Sun Country Quarter Horse Futurity at Sunland Park, she set a record of :17.38 in the trials for the 350-yard course. Equaling it a week later proves the filly is a consistent runner and not a fluke. After each race, Pass Over has a whole lot of running left.”
The Cinderella of the Quarter Horse tracks has what it takes for a Champion. So far, she
has been unbeatable. The saga really begins with Jack Delmar of Rosenberg, Texas, her owner. Delmar started it all. He had race horses years ago when pari-mutuel racing was allowed in Texas. Then, the tracks were closed.
Mr. Delmar was disgusted and got entirely out of racing. Why did he decide to go back into racing only a short time ago? It was just one of those things like everything else about Pass Over. Fortunately, Delmar did get back into rac- ing. Just in the nick of time, though.
It was Jack Delmar who knew about the unknown Thoroughbred sire, Pass ‘Em Up. He happened to know Dr. R.E. Keefer, veterinar- ian at Texas A&M. From Keefer he learned that his Thoroughbred Pass ‘Em Up was standing at stud.
What was odd was that the stud had been practically unbeatable at about a half mile as a runner. Beyond this distance, he had never made a name for himself, so he wasn’t recognized as a proven sire.
Maybe Jack Delmar had learned, back in the pari-mutuel days of racing in Texas, quite a bit about what to look for in a stud. At any rate, he knew that he wanted Pass ‘Em Up to sire a filly for him.
Maybe it doesn’t make sense, but Jack Delmar talked it over with his friend Dr. Keefer. Further, Delmar had happened to get
Pass Over won the $353,250 Kansas Futurity at Ruidoso Downs on June 10, 1973.
148 SPEEDHORSE, August 2018
LOOKING BACK - AN EXCERPT FROM JULY 1973 ISSUE
Once in a while, history is made and it seems that it
was meant to turn out just that way. All the pieces fit together perfectly. this is the story of Pass Over,
a Cinderella filly if there ever was one.
by Frieda Bryan Hyatt