Page 70 - September 2023

Savannah Jr wins the Sunland Park Fall Futurity, Nov. 28, 1965.
Speedhorse Archives
Eventually, though, he came to hand and though he was clumsy at first, once the baby fat melted off and he began getting some miles under him, he smoothed out and started acting a little more like a racehorse.
In the meantime, I was getting frustrated, too. I couldn’t get Dad to brag on this colt—not even a little. Finally, one morning he came back to the barn with Savannah Jr, and I could tell by the way he spoke to the rider that something had changed. He stepped off our old saddle horse, Zeke, and held Savannah Jr himself while Beto bathed him and I looked on.
“Well, he passed the test today,” he said. “He outworked Zeke for a hundred yards and there’s not many two year olds can do that.” Little Zeke was a son of Leo and had been a stakes winner in his day. He was lightning quick and even carrying Dad and a stock saddle, could outrun most two year olds for a short distance.
After that Dad didn’t say anything else encouraging about Savannah Jr. When the day
came for his first race, at Sunland Park, all I could get him to say was, “He’s green, son. He’ll need this race.”
He was green indeed, breaking awkwardly, and was last for the first hundred yards of the race. Then, when he got his feet under him, he raced to a 2-length win.
His next race was in the trials for the Oklahoma Futurity, which was run at that time at La Mesa Park in Raton, New Mexico. He broke from the gate somewhat better and won his 330-yard trial by 5 lengths, making him the favorite to win the final. As luck would have it, he drew the one hole on a deep, drying out racetrack. In the races leading up to the final, no horse inside the seven hole was able to win in a straightaway race. But Savannah Jr did what he had to do and eked out a 1/2-length victory over Fantacia and Suwanee Bars.
Savannah Jr was three for three and was considered one of the preseason favorites for the Ruidoso futurities. Then things came off
the rails. He missed qualifying for the Kansas Futurity by one place. Then in the trials for the Rainbow Futurity he drew the nine hole which seemed to be favorable. However, the strong- willed colt had another trick up his sleeve. Jockey Jack Wallace recalled years later, “When that last horse loaded, the outrider rode out there just in front of the gate and parked his horse near the outside rail and Savannah Jr wouldn’t take his eyes off him. Sure enough, when they kicked it, he dove straight toward that saddle horse and wiped out the horse in the ten hole and overshot the outrider’s horse and almost hit the outside rail. Then he headed for the inside rail, with me pulling as hard as I could on that right rein. We pretty much wiped out the field before I got him straightened out. He won easy, but I knew we would have to come down.”
The stewards took the minimum amount of time to make their decision, disqualifying Savannah Jr and placing him last. His winning time was among the day’s fastest but, of course,
“Son, this is the best thing that could’ve happened to us.” – Ted Wells Jr.
68 SPEEDHORSE September 2023