Page 170 - Speedhorse August 2018

Speedhorse Futurity-G3
RaPPid
by John Moorehouse
Matthew Eck currently trains only a few race horses and his three brothers do the same. Eck earned some bragging rights
for the next family dinner, however, when his gelding, Rappid, made a driving finish to win the $222,000 Speedhorse Futurity-G3 at Fair Meadows on July 28.
Making his competitive debut at Remington Park in March, Rappid ate a cou- ple of slices of humble pie early in his career, failing to qualify for either the Oklahoma Futurity or the Heritage Place Futurity.
“Just a lot didn’t go right at Remington for him this year,” Eck said. “Both trials, I think he got [matched up with] the fastest quali-
fer in the Heritage and second fastest in the Oklahoma Futurity.
“Mentally it was tough, getting dirt on his face, so to speak,” Eck continued. “We knew he had the talent. He just needed the luck, men- tally, for him to prepare. With each race we saw him getting a little more mentally tough.”
Apparently, Rappid now is tough enough. The gelding drew the outside starting gate
in the 10-horse field, made a clean break
and was running third at the first call. Then jockey Alfredo Triana Jr., made his move and
Rappid responded as the rider urged his mount to the front of the pack.
The gelding led by a
head entering the stretch, then pulled away to win by a 1/2-length margin. The 350- yard trip took :17.899, regis- tering an 86 speed index.
Rappid reached the win-
ner’s circle for the second
time in six starts this season
with this win, and banked an
$84,360 payday that improved his total earn- ings to $106,684.
The young gelding also ran in the Heritage Place Juvenile at Remington in June, where he crossed the finish line fifth but broke out and was disqualified to tenth in the official results.
“It’s huge,” said Eck, who serves as both owner and trainer of Rappid. “It’s one of those deals, when we started out, we had a couple of inexpensive horses.
“We thought, can we really haul in and run with the big guys at the track just sit- ting there, waiting? It’s really huge for us to know that it can be done. It just takes that
special horse to do some- thing like that.”
Eck noted that each brother operates on his own, but that they also work together. “We just help each other out any way we can,” he said. “If you’ve got one brother that wins, now it’s like, ‘Shoot, now I better win.’ We definitely push each other to do better.”
Bobby Cox bred Rappid and home-bred the gelding’s dam, Azoomin With Jessie, a stakes-placed 2007 mare who
logged two wins in 11 starts before becom- ing a broodmare. Rappid becomes the second stakes winner out of the mare as she has also produced Azoomin Jamie, a three-time stakes winner in Mexico.
With a stakes win under his belt, Rappid can head into a break from the track, accord- ing to Eck.
“We didn’t have anything planned for him from here on out, and this was his sixth out already for the first half of the year. I kind
of just felt like, especially after that win, he’s
Fair Meadows $222,000 • 350 yards :17.899 • si 86
Corona Cartel Ivory James
Dashin Follies RAPPID, ‘16-g.
Azoom Azoomin With Jessie
Jess Genuine
168 SPEEDHORSE, August 2018
Rappid and Alfredo Triana Jr. win the $222,000 Speedhorse Futurity-G3 by 1/2-length
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Coady Photography