Page 80 - January 2018

CELEBRATING
2015
JRC Callas First was named 2014 World Champion. Painted Turnpike became the first horse ever to win the Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa Triple Crown. Ruidoso Downs announced that the All American Futurity would carry a $3 million purse, the largest for any 2-year-old race in the world. AQHA celebrated its 75th anniversary. Kay Helzer was elected president of the Texas Quarter Horse Association. The AQHA banned clenbuterol use in Quarter Horses beginning in January 2016. The Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission prohibited clenbuterol and albuterol in racehorses. The AQHA won its appeal and the cloning lawsuit reached the end of the legal process; and the association will not be required to register clones or
their offspring. Craig Huffhines was named the AQHA executive vice president. AQHA president Johnny Trotter was honored by the Texas Legislature for his many achievements in the state. The AQHA ruled that sperm,
embryos and oocytes from foals born in 2015 or after will not be able to be used beyond two years following that animals’ death or sterilization. The California Horse Racing Board took steps to discourage the use of program trainers by holding owners equally responsible for the condition of any horse that ships to the track less than one week before it races. The North Dakota Racing Commission announced it would no longer fund races at Fargo due to the park’s excessive debt. Trainer Mike Taylor saddled all qualifiers to the Bucking Horse Sale Futurity in Montana. The New Mexico Racing Commission voted to ban the use of clenbuterol in all horses entered to race in the state for one year. The Downs
at Albuquerque instituted strict “house rules” regulations for stakes qualifiers, including expedited drug testing on the top 12 qualifiers so that a horse with a positive test would not be allowed to enter the finals. Vessels Stallion Farm was sold to Ocean Breeze LLC. Ron Smith was elected president of the Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association. The Racing Medication and Testing Consortium
(RMTC) board took several actions to improve the health and safety of horses, including adding four new medications to
the list of controlled therapeutic substances. The Indiana Horse Racing Commission hosted its first Horse Racing Summit. The Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission named Kelly Cathey as the new executive director. The Califorinia Horse Racing Board amended the claim rule, allowing claims to be voided
if cases where the horse is visibly bleeding from the nostrils. In Memoriam: AQHA Hall of Fame jockey Bobby Adair died; Leading breeder/owner Joe B. Allen passed away at 78; Former trainer Wayne Brasher died at 86; Andy Chavers, breeder/owner of Champion Bully Bullion, died at 89; Trainer Edward Coltharp, who was the first president of the Kentucky Quarter Horse Association, died at 87; World Champion trainer Carl Draper died at 76; Jockey Jesse Godinez, who rode Champion Takin On The Cash and Refrigerator, died; Prominent horseman Sherman Hadley died
at 53; Leading barrel horse promoter Michael Allen Hickman, who helped form the Future
The iconic Vessels Stallion Farm was sold to Ocean Breeze LLC in 2015.
78 SPEEDHORSE, January 2018