Page 120 - July 2017

2017 RUIDOSO HALL OF FAME
FOUR MEMBERS JOINED THE RANKS AS RUIDOSO HALL OF FAMERS AT JUNE INDUCTION CEREMONY
by Jennifer K. Hancock
Thoroughbred racing escapes to the Spa – Saratoga Springs – in the summer, and Quarter Horse racing’s retreat is Ruidoso Downs. The two racing centers also share a bond of protect- ing racing history and recognizing contributions to the sport. The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame found a home in Saratoga, and Ruidoso is the shrine for many racing ar- tifacts and historical memorabilia though the Ruidoso Downs Racehorse Hall of Fame.
Hidden in the grandstands of the New Mex- ico mountain track, you will find the Ruidoso Downs Racehorse Hall of Fame.
On June 23, the newest members joined
the ranks – owner Dutch Masters III, trainer H.C. “Bubba” Werner, jockey James Lackey, and Champion Heartswideopen.
Each year, one owner/breeder, one jockey, one trainer and one horse are inducted into the Hall of Fame, and the 2017 class brings an im- pressive racing resume to the Hall.
The ownership group of Dutch Masters III has taken on many different combinations, but the one constant has been Dr. James Streelman. His partnership with Denny Boer in the horse industry has been off and on over the years, but one thing hasn’t changed – a friendship that began in the first grade.
Together Streelman and Boer under the Dutch Masters III moniker bred and owned three Champions – Four Forty Blast, Secret Card, and Higher Fire. With Doug Benson as
a member of Dutch Masters III, the partners owned Meteoric, who ran third in the All Amer- ican Futurity-G1. Boer reduced his racing oper- ation for several years, but when he returned to his partnership with Streelman, the two joined
forces to campaign Chazaq under the Dutch Masters III ownership group. A son of Corona Cartel out of 2004 Ruidoso Futurity-G1 winner All About Ease, Chazaq won the $1,070,000 Ed Burke Memorial Futurity-G1 in 2016.
Dutch Masters III’s race record includes 17 Grade 1 stakes victories from 31 graded stakes wins. The partnership is the second all-time leading owner of money earners with nearly $12 million banked.
Trainer H.C. “Bubba” Werner won major American Quarter Horse stakes races. Saddling Mito Wise Dancer, he won the All American Derby and the El Primero Del Ano Derby. Gentlemens Feature, another top Werner trainee, won the Kansas Futurity, which is now known as the Ruidoso Futurity-G1, and Werner also trained Bar Roula, who won the World’s Championship Classic at Ruidoso Downs.
Werner saddled stakes winners at seven different tracks, but perhaps his most famous trainee is Come Six. A three-time Champion, Come Six was the 1971 Champion Two-Year- Old Gelding, 1972 Champion Three-Year-Old Gelding, and 1973 Champion Aged Gelding, Come Six won the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship, World’s Championship Classic and the Rocky Mountain Quarter Horse Asso- ciation Derby.
Known as a “money rider,” James Lackey won 13 Grade 1 stakes including the presti- gious Champion of Champions twice on two different World Champions. He rode 1985 World Champion Cash Rate and 1987 World Champion First Down Dash to victory in the 440-yard classic for older horses at Los Alami- tos, and both horses were named World
Champion the same year that they won their Champion of Champions.
Lackey also won the Los Alamitos Champion- ship with Cash Rate, the Los Alamitos Derby and Dash For Cash Derby with First Down Dash, the Kansas Futurity with Okey Dokey Baby, and the Ed Burke Memorial Futurity with Flomont.
After hanging up his tack, Lackey began working as a training assistant and he now works with top trainers at many major tracks around the country.
Champion Heartswideopen joins her trainer, Carl Draper, in the Ruidoso Downs Racehorse Hall of Fame. Heartswideopen won the 2007 Ruidoso Futurity and the All American Futurity. The following year, she scored victories in the Ruidoso Derby and the Rainbow Derby.
The daughter of Feature Mr Jess out of the Dash For Cash mare Dashing Phoebe earned four AQHA Champion titles. Heartswideopen was the 2007 Champion Two Year Old and Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, and the follow- ing year, she earned 2008 Champion Three Year Old and Champion Three-Year-Old filly honors.
Bred by Kirk Goodfellow, Heartswideopen raced for Javier and Manny Rodriguez’s La Fe- liz Montana Ranch LLC, and she is currently owned by Julianna Hawn Holt.
The Ruidoso Downs Racehorse Hall of Fame operates as a 501c3 non-profit organiza- tion, and all donations are tax deductible. The Hall of Fame is located on the second floor at Ruidoso Downs near the entrance of the All American Turf Club. The museum is open during race days, and admission is free. Visi- tors to the mountain resort town during the racing off season can contact the track to make viewing arrangements.
While Ruidoso is home of American Quarter Horse racing’s Triple Crown, which is high- lighted by the richest race in the sport - the All American Futurity, the Hall of Fame does not focus solely on American Quarter Horse racing. One treasure secured in the Hall is War Admiral’s Kentucky Derby trophy. R. D Hub- bard purchased the Triple Crown winner’s Derby trophy privately in November 2006, and it is on display at the museum.
The Ruidoso Downs Racehorse Hall of Fame offers a superb collection of racing memo- rabilia and racing history lives throughout the collection. In addition to the racing artifacts, the Hall of Fame offers interactive kiosks that present some of the greatest races and stories in racing history as well as information on each of the members of the Hall.
The 2017 Ruidoso Downs Racehorse Hall of Fame inductees included (from left to right) Dr. James Streelman of Dutch Masters III, H.C. “Bubba” Werner, James Lackey and Fredda Draper representing Heartswideopen.
118 SPEEDHORSE, July 2017
Photo by Ty Wyant