Page 33 - September 2023

One Famous Eagle, sire of Imperial Eagle.
Jenuine Joy, dam of Imperial Eagle, winning the Mesilla Valley Speed Handicap.
Imperial Eagle’s owner
Charles Robinson with
trainer Tony Sedillo. © Linda Earley, Speedhorse
SPEEDLINES
SPEEDHORSE September 2023 31
Ramirez overtook the filly with The Marfa Lights doing the same, settling for second. Coronas First Diva finished third. She was followed by Apolltical Chad in fourth, Magical Jess fifth, Koolnfamous sixth, Volcoms Lady seventh, One Famous Beau eighth and One Hot Habit ninth. Gamey Tee Cos was a scratch.
Imperial Eagle and Ramirez hit the
wire in a time of :21.478, securing the $1.5 million first place check of the $3 million purse. This win came for Chuck Robinson, who had tried before to win the All American Futurity, but in 2016 Imperial Eagle was his only entry in the race. He was also the only entry in the race for Tony Sedillo.
But they weren’t done racing. They tried the Hobbs America Futurity trials, but didn’t qualify. Then they went to the Southwest Juvenile Championship with a win. The next start came in the Sunland Park Winter Juvenile Championship with another win. He finished the year with nine starts, six wins, one second and one third. He earned $1,706,253 to go along with his Champion Two Year Old and the Champion Two-Year-Old Gelding titles.
Imperial Eagle started his three-year-old campaign in the Ruidoso Derby trial with a third. He won the Mr Jess Perry Stakes. His next start was his All American Derby trial, where he qualified for and placed second
in the First Down Dash Stakes at Ruidoso Downs. He then started in a Hobbs America Derby trial, winning and qualifying for the final. He was second in the Hobbs America Derby-G3. He then ran ninth in the
Zia Park Championship Stakes-G1. His next start came in 2018 in a trial for the West Texas Maturity with second place, but he qualified for the finals and won the West Texas Maturity-G3. Then he went to Turf Paradise and won his trial to the Turf Paradise Challenge Championship, finishing fifth in the finals. It was his last race. He retired after 20 starts with 11 wins, 4 seconds and 2 thirds earning $1,852,897.
After many years of trying, Imperial Eagle gave Chuck Robinson his All American Dream. In May of 2017, Chuck Robinson died and Imperial Eagle continued racing for Christina Robinson. In 2015, Carl Draper passed away and in 2019 Fredda Draper passed away. Just like Robinson, he gave the Drapers a third opportunity as breeders to achieve success in the All American Futurity. So, through Imperial Eagle, these three came together for one last opportunity to achieve the All American Dream. Life works in mysterious ways.
© Don Shugart
© Coady Photography
trials with a second place, and a third in the finals of the West Texas Futurity-G2. The next start came in the Ruidoso Futurity trial with a win, but he failed to qualify. He then went into the Rainbow Futurity trials with another win and again he failed to qualify.
When things settled after the Ruidoso Futurity-G1 and the Rainbow Futurity-G1, it appeared the All American Futurity would be a fight between
A Revenant and Apolltical Chad for the best runner in the All American Triple Crown Series. Apolltical Chad won the Ruidoso Futurity-G1 with A Revenant coming in second. A Revenant won the Rainbow Futurity-G1 with Apolltical Chad skipping the Rainbow. But when the All American trials rolled around, things changed as the Rainbow Futurity-G1 was the last race for A Revenant, but the biggest change may have come for Imperial Eagle.
Imperial Eagle raced in trial #15 of the first day, winning with a time of :21.499. This was the last trial of the day. It was the fastest time of the two days of trials. This trial win showed the potential of Imperial Eagle as a racehorse and what was to come. You might say the Eagle had landed.
The second fastest qualifier on the first day was The Marfa Lights with a time of
:21.510 in trial #5. Magical Jess put in time of :21.615 in trial #2. Koolnfamous won in trial #9 with a time of :21.648. The fifth qualifier was Volcoms Lady in a time of :21.705. They were all trial winners. The second day of trials was led by Coronas First Diva in trial #14 in :21.500, the second fastest time of the two days of trials. The second fastest qualifier on the second day was One Hot Habit with a time of :21.643 in trial #4. One Famous Beau had a time of :21.667 in trial #8. Apolltical Chad had the fourth fastest time on day two with a time of :21.685. Gamey Tee Cos had
a time of :21.689 to top off the five qualifiers from day two. Apolltical Chad qualified for both the Ruidoso Futurity-G1 and the
All American Futurity-G1. The only other horse that qualified for more than one of the three races was One Hot Habit, who qualified for the Ruidoso Futurity-G1, running eighth in that race. Coronas First Diva was a sleeper that came from Remington Park with a win in the Oklahoma Futurity-G3 and as a finalist in the Heritage Place Futurity-G1. Her
All American Futurity trial was her first race at Ruidoso.
When the gates opened, the call of the race saw Coronas First Diva in the lead with the field following. By the time they reached the wire, Imperial Eagle and Esgar