Page 65 - January 2018

for an equine specialist on their Veterinarian Medicine Advisory Committee. Remington Park became the first track in the world to
race on Equitrack, an all weather surface. The AQHA approved the Regional Champions Program. In Memoriam: Bud Warren, who bred/owned Champion Jet Charger and who is connected to such great horses as Jet Deck and Leo, died following heart surgery at the age of 77.
1989
Merganser was named 1988 World Champion. R. D. Hubbard, owner of the
All American Sales Company & Richard Thompson, owner of the Ruidoso Super Select Sale Company, joined together to form the Ruidoso Horse Sales Company. Anna Fay Davis was named Deputy Executive Secretary for the New Mexico State Racing Commission. ESPN telecasts Ruidoso “Big Four” races - the All American Futurity & Derby, Rainbow Futurity, and Kansas Futurity. Indiana legislation passed a bill allowing pari-mutuel racing in the state. Fair Meadows at Tulsa held its inaugural meet. Prairie Meadows in Iowa opens and holds their first pari-mutuel horse race. The inaugural meet at Eureka Downs in Kansas hosted eight Quarter Horse races after a delay due to poor track conditions caused by heavy rains. Evangeline Downs began racing Quarter Horses. Queen Elizabeth II visited the U.S. and toured 12 Kentucky farms. President Ronald Reagan was inducted
into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.
In Memoriam: Veterinarian Jerry Rheudasil, Phillips Ranch general manager and owner
of 1983 All American Futurity winner On A High, passed away; Secretariat was euthanized after a bout with laminitis.
1990
See Me Do It was named 1989 World Champion. Refrigerator won the All American Futurity. Sables Defender wins 4 stakes races. Speedhorse purchased Quarter Horse Racing Record magazine.
1991
Dash For Speed was named 1990 World Champion. The Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association compiled a video
of all Quarter Horse stakes races run at Remington Park & Blue Ribbon Downs
in 1990 and sent the tape to troops in the Persian Gulf. Actor Kevin Costner financed a casino, restaurant and sports bar to be called the Midnight Star in Deadwood, South Dakota. The American Association of Equine Practitioners is helping to aid and ship veterinary supplies to 150 racehorses
in Kuwait that are suffering from post-war conditions and that are now under the care of U.S. troops. R.D. Hubbard created the Shoemaker Foundation in honor of racing’s all-time winningest jockey Willie Shoemaker, who was paralyzed in an auto accident earlier in the year, to provide financial assistance to seriously injured horsemen. Gene Wilson & Associates developed a computer-based electronic imaging photo-finish system that locks race finish times to within 1/1000ths
of a second. Jerry Bailey, president of
the Jockeys’ Guild, contributed the cash proceeds from the Chrysler automobile
he received for riding Preakness winner Hansel to the Guild’s Injured Jockeys’ Fund. Canterbury Downs and Turf Paradise receive approval for off-track betting. Actor Billy Crystal was given his equine co-star from the movie “City Slickers,” 11-year-old Quarter Horse Beechnut, as a gift and rode him on stage at the Oscars. Researchers at Oregon State University developed a new therapy to treat EDM (equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy) or “wobbling” syndrome. President Reagan agreed to be a spokesperson for North American Riding for the Handicap Association (NARHA) information videos. In Memoriam: Hall
of Fame trainer Laz Barrera, 86, passed
away after a bout with pneumonia; W.L. “Bill” Jones, one of the original founders
of the APHA, passed away; The legendary Thoroughbred Beduino, 23, was humanely destroyed due to cancer and complications
of old age and was buried in his paddock at Vessels Stallion Farm.
1992
Special Leader was named 1991 World Champion. The AQHA was unsuccessful at purchasing the California-based Quarter Horse Breeders Classics race program and announced an alternative in the AQHA-sponsored Challenge racing program. The California Horse Racing Board passed a rule to allow Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds, Paints and Appaloosas to compete against one another in races. Developers of Sam Houston Race Park purchased
a site to start building a race track. Jockey Tommy Wolski, outrider Jerry Davis, and trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ pony, Bud, made appearances on the television show “Beverly Hills 90210.” Okla. Gov. David Walters signed a bill to reduce the state’s take on pari-mutuel wagering from 4% to 2%. The California Racing Board passed an amendment requiring parentage verification of all breeds of racehorses in the state. In Memoriam: Television show 20/20 aired an investigative report on the death of Texas Horse Racing Commission accountant David Joost, which was ruled a murder/suicide in spite of much contrary evidence; Millie Vessels, former owner of Los Alamitos, passed away; Doris Travis, breeder
of Tiny’s Gay and Lucks Gay Chic with husband Paul, passed away at age 106. Easy Jet was humanely euthanized on May 8 after suffering from chronic laminitis for several years.
1988 World Champion Merganser returns under jockey
Jacky Martin after winning the 1988
Sun Country Futurity.