Page 66 - January 2018

CELEBRATING
1993
Refrigerator was named 1992 World Champion. Trainer Bob Baffert made the move from Quarter Horses to Thoroughbreds. The American Paint Horse Association Executive Committee decided that all national championship races would be open only to Regular Registry Paints. The Jockeys’ Guild endorsed the mandatory use of flak jackets. The Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association, in conjunction with the Heritage Place sale,
held an International Quarter Horse Racing Conference to improve relations with Mexican, Brazilian and Canadian counterparts. Virginia Hyland, who served as an AQHA Director since 1980, became the first woman to be elected to the AQHA Executive Committee. Walter Merrick and Easy Jet were inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame. The New Mexico Racing Commission placed all racetrack stewards in the state under commission employment. An investigation
began after a colt died from electrocution in the starting gates at Pimlico. Plans were on track to build Sam Houston Race Park, a 220-acre $75 million facility to be operational by 1994. Okla. Gov. David Walters signed a bill into law allowing persons 12 years of age and over access to all levels of Remington Park. In Memoriam: Co-breeder of World Champion First Down Dash A.F. “Sonny” Stanley padded away; Dancer’s Image, the only horse ever disqualified from winning the Kentucky Derby - in 1968 for using then-illegal phenylbutazone - died.
1992 & 1993 World Champion Refrigerator with trainer Sleepy Gilbreath
1994
Refrigerator was named 1993 World Champion, his second consecutive World Championship title. The California Horse Racing Board created an 800 number for callers to inform the CHRB of matters they feel should be brought to their attention. The Texas Racing Commission approved an “extra” day of racing for opening day of the state’s first Class 1 racetrack, Sam Houston Race Park. Quarter Horse racing debuted in Germany at Gotha Race Course. Tony Patterson was appointed assistant racing secretary for the inaugural meet at Sam Houston Race Park. A non-profit equine hospital near Sam Houston Race Park began to serve the track and, working with Texas A&M University School of Veterinary Medicine, conduct research into racing injuries. The Humane Society of the United
States asked for the horse industry’s assistance
in achieving federal legislation that would
establish guidelines for the purchase of horses for slaughter or shipment to feed lots. The Assembly Governmental Organization Committee passed a measure to ban race-day medications in California. The English Jockey Club unveiled an improved safety helmet for riders. 17 people were arrested in connection to a scheme to skim profits from video- poker machines in Louisiana for the Marcello, Genovese and Gambino families. The Jockey
Club announced it will require DNA-typing for
all active stallions before certificates can be issued. Canterbury Downs became a public corporation. Former racehorse Docs Keepin Time, the star of the Black Beauty, and owner Rex Peterson received the AQHA Silver Spur Award. R.D Hubbard was the focus of an article in USA Today about casino gaming at racetracks. Louisiana Downs ran its first Quarter Horse race. Indiana’s first pari-mutuel racetrack, Hoosier Park, opened. The winner of the Purina Mills sponsored oldest horse contest was
a 42 year old Shetland pony. The AQHA began working on installing a board of veterinarians
to examine all starters in Grade 1 races in the
days leading up to the races following 2 equine fatalities in the All American Futurity. Refrigerator became the first Quarter Horse to earn $2 million. Construction began on Retama Park, set to be open in 1995. In Memoriam: AQHA director of communications, Bruce Beckmann, passed away; Carl Bellew, an AQHA Honorary Vice President
and former AQHA Racing Committee member,
passed away; Gene Chambless, owner of Champion Zillions and trainer of Champion Rebel Cause and The Haymaker, passed away at 76; Kansas horseman Gordon Crone, co-owner with wife Juanita of Champion Vespero, passed away at 72; Lifelong horse racing devotee Virginia Kelley, mother of President Clinton, passed away; AQHA director emeritus Edward L. “Greech” Partin, the first president of the Florida Quarter Horse Association, passed away; Champion/multiple Champion sire Six Fortunes died after a freak accident on a hot walker.
1995
Down With Debt was named 1994 World Champion. Kool Kue Baby won her first
stakes in the Pride of Texas Handicap at
Trinity Meadows, her first of 25 to become AQHA’s all-time leading stakes winner. AmTote International announced the opening of “La Cuadra,” the first of 20 planned off-track- betting parlors in Columbia, South America. The Oklahoma Senate passed an off-track betting bill to allow all 3 of the state’s racetracks to operate off-track betting facilities in the 12 counties that approved pari-mutuel wagering. Publication of Speedhorse was delayed by
the Oklahoma City bombing perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols when
the printer across the street from the site was affected. The Appaloosa Horse Club gathered donations to send to the Red Cross to assist with the Oklahoma City bombing. What was believed to be the first time in history, identical twin 3-year-old fillies raced against one another in the same race, finishing out of the money. A new rule in California took effect stating that no Quarter Horse younger than 24 months
of age be allowed to start in a race. The New Mexico Racing Commission implemented
a pre-race inspection program of 11 major
races coordinated by state veterinarian at their respective track. In Memoriam: Remington Park owner Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., 85, died; Owner of 2-time Champion Go Together, Go Man Go, and Buena Suerte Ranch, Harriett Peckham passed away at 64; Champion Easily Smashed, 17, died after failing to recover from a hind leg injury;
The Ole Man, by Three Bars, died; Multiple Champion sire Lady Bug’s Moon, 29, died.