Page 74 - Jan_2020

In loving memory of all our friends in 2019. Gone, yet not forgotten.
TEDDY ABRAMS JR
TEDDY ABRAMS JR.
Longtime horseman Teddy Abrams Jr. passed away at the age of 50 on Dec. 26 in Houston, Texas. Abrams was vice president of Abrams Technical Services, a company that recruits personnel for the oil and gas industry that is owned by his father Ted Abrams, Sr. Perhaps the most notable horse that Teddy is associated with is 2-time Champion Vals Fortune, who won 20 of 23 career starts with earnings of more than $1.1 million. Teddy is survived by his father Ted Abrams Sr. and his wife Nancy, two daughters and many other family members and friends.
DOMINIC ‘BUD’ ALESSIO
Longtime Quarter Horse breeder and owner Dominic ‘Bud’ Alessio passed away on April 2 at the age of 77. Alessio served as President of the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association (PCQHRA) Board of Directors since 1993. Under his watch, the PCQHRA managed the Los Alamitos Equine Sale and introduced major Quarter Horse racing events in the state. His father, John, established the precursor of today’s Pick 6 and Trifecta. Bud, his brothers and brother-in-law owned and operated Sunland Park and Ruidoso Downs and were the overseer of the first All American Futurity won by Moon Lark in 1978. He will be long remembered for assist- ing California’s Quarter Horse racing industry.
AMANDA GREER
70 SPEEDHORSE, January 2020
DOMINIC ‘BUD’ ALESSIO LES BARLOW
LES BARLOW
Longtime Idaho horseman Leslie “Les” Phillip Barlow passed away on March 7 due to kidney failure. Barlow was a successful breeder and trainer, with his horses winning top honors every year from the Idaho Quarter Horse Racing Association. In 2018, his homebred mare Sparklin Cartel was named Idaho’s Horse of the Year.
HUBERT BLANKENSHIP
Longtime horse trainer Hubert Blankenship passed away on July 28 at the age of 86. Blankenship began training horses in 1960 and has saddled 184 winners with earnings of over $980,000, including such horses
as Black Gold Championship-G3 winner Doitoem Gambler and Remington Park Challenge-G3 winner Wheel N Stuff Too. Blankenship was a member of the AQHA and OHRC.
THOMAS H. BRADBURY
Thomas H. Bradbury, 82, passed away after complications from knee replacement surgery on Jan. 10. The Colorado horse- man, who was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2015, co-owned 1990 World Champion Dash For Speed. He was a member of and served as
HUBERT BLANKENSHIP
president of the Rocky Mountain Quarter Horse Association, was an AQHA director emeritus, served on the National Western Executive Board for over a decade, was a Colorado State University Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, and was inducted into the Colorado Agriculture Hall of Fame.
E.D. CALVERT
E.D. “Tooter” Calvert passed away at the age on 81 on June 11 in Denton, Texas. Ed owned and operated Calvert Paving for more than 60 years and was active in the company until his latest illness. Calvert owned 2004 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Cash For Kas, who earned nearly $600,000 winning the Champion of Champions-G1 and Denim N Diamonds Handicap and finishing second in the All American Derby-G1.
JAMES DILLON
James Dillon, 85, passed away on June 26. Born in Omaha, Nebraska. Jim’s start in the horse business began with his ownership of the Triple D Ranch in Nebraska, where he stood several stallions and where his love of racing began. He managed the 440 Ranch in Texas, and built Dillon Running Horses in Oklahoma. Jim was an AQHA council member, led 4H, and judged reining and
DON GRIFFIN SR FLETCHER JAMES HUSKEY GERALD D. LIBERSAT SR.