Page 122 - July 2017

G.R. CARTER, JR.
George and I am George Robert Carter, Jr. Everyone started calling me G.R. and it just became who I am.
Q: What is the strangest personality quirk you have ever seen in a horse?
A: I remember a horse that walked like a camel and moved both legs on the same side at the same time. I can’t remember his name, but he was a son of Rare Form and he could really run. John Stinebaugh trained him and I won a couple of races on him.
Q: If you were not in the horse racing business, what job would you like to have? A: No other job for me. I love race riding.
Q: What is your favorite thing about living where you live?
A: I was born an Okie and that’s where I’ll be buried. Oklahoma City is a great place for me. Lots of things a cowboy loves. The fairgrounds has many great horse events, including the AQHA World Show and the USTRC Finals. I spend a lot of time at ropings at
the Lazy E. We’re fortunate to have a racetrack like Remington Park, my hometown track.
Q: If you could vacation anywhere, where would it be & what would you do there?
A: I’ve traveled so much, I love being home and at our farm.
Q: Do you have a favorite quote?
A: “People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.”
Q: If you could sit down and visit with anyone, past or present, who would it be? A: Will Rogers.
Q: Who’s your favorite athlete, and why?
A: Jim Thorpe. American Indian and probably the greatest all-around athlete of all time.
Q: What’s one thing you don’t like about Quarter Horse racing?
A: Use of illegal drugs.
Q: What’s one thing you like about Quarter Horse racing?
A: Quarter Horse racing has been so good to me. I get to ride the fastest horses in the world, get the thrill of winning, and get paid to do it. I guess that’s why I’m back riding. I missed that thrill. It never gets old.
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“I guess that’s why I’m back riding. I missed that thrill. It never gets old.”
There appears to be no keeping G.R. Carter, Jr. out of the irons. Or over them, as he is well-known for his signature backflip off his winning mount.
After retiring from Quarter Horse racing at the end
of 2015 with over $3 million in earnings that year, Carter made 18 starts in 2016 - most notably in the All American Futurity - and was among the leading jockeys once again. His taste for competition has apparently given him the taste for another helping, as the Oklahoma native has returned to a full schedule of races in 2017. To the surprise of no one, he continues to enjoy success.
Through all events as of June 13, he was 11th on the Quarter Horse jockey leaderboard for money won, reap- ing $644,956 in earnings. As the midpoint of the 2017 campaign approaches, Carter has run 119 races—hardly the schedule of a retiree or part-time jockey—while com- piling a 20-11-12 record, good for a 16.8 win percentage.
However long he continues to ride, his place in the annals of Quarter Horse racing is secured. He is the all-time money earning jockey in AQHA history - an achievement he reached in 2008. He also holds the all- time AQHA record for mounts ridden (24,000... give
or take) & total wins (3,831 & counting as of this writ- ing). And, he holds 10 AQHA World Championships as jockey, including a streak of 6 straight world titles. To top all this off, Carter is the all-time winningest rider
in Paint & Appaloosa competition as well. G.R. Carter ALSO is the subject of our latest “Lighter Side” feature.
Q: Where were you born?
A: Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
Q: What are your hobbies?
A: Rodeo (team roping and steer roping).
Q: What is your favorite movie, and why?
A: “Dances With Wolves.” Great Western. It tells the real plight of the American Indian, unlike older Westerns that portrayed them as savages. [Editor’s note: Carter is a member of the Osage tribe]
Q: Give an interesting fact about your family.
A: My grandfather, Carter, sold a great roping horse to Will Rogers in the 1920s. Bootlegger was one of Will’s favorite two horses at the time of his death in 1935. Bootlegger is buried beside the other, Soapsuds, at the Will Rogers State Park in Pacific Palisades, California.
Q: Do you have a nickname and, if so, what is it and how did it come about?
A: I became G.R. Carter before I remember. My dad is
John Moorehouse
120 SPEEDHORSE, July 2017
THE LIGHTER SIDE