Page 80 - 2 November 2012

PCQHRA Breeders’ Futurity-G2
Stel My CoRonA
by Stacy Pigott
It isn’t often that something as unfortunate as a slab fracture can result in a Grade 2 stakes win. But those were the exact circumstances
behind Stel My Corona’s win in the $382,000 PCQHRA Breeders’ Futurity-G2 on Oct. 6 at Los Alamitos. No, it wasn’t Stel My Corona who sustained the injury. The story actually starts several years ago with Stel My Corona’s dam, Ocean Express.
“We came out here and bought Ocean Express at the Los Alamitos Equine Sale,” said Stel My Corona’s owner and breeder, Tony Doughtie, of Huntsville, Texas. “She actually slabbed in a race out here, and we didn’t want to transport her back so we kept her out here.”
Consigned to the 2007 Los Alamitos Equine Sale by Lazy E Ranch, Agent for Lucas Racing, Inc., Ocean Express was purchased for $20,000. The mare, by Fishers Dash out of Ocean Memories, made only one start, finish- ing ninth. Doughtie sent her to Burns Ranch to begin life as a broodmare. Ocean Express produced three foals in her initial breeding season—two by Stel Corona and one by Tac It Like A Man.
“We ended up breeding to Stel Corona
(a stallion by Corona Cartel) because any- thing out of Ocean Express’ mother sired by Corona Cartel turned out to be a runner,” said Doughtie, who works in the underground util- ity business and got into Quarter Horse racing just six short years ago.
Indeed, Ocean Memories produced Ocean Cartel, a Grade 2 stakes winner of $186,000, stakes-placed Mimi Cartel, and graded stakes finalist Corona Memory—all by Corona Cartel. To the cover of Special Leader, she foaled stakes winner Special Ela. Ocean Memories is a half-sister to stakes winner Harbor Beach and stakes-placed Igofast-TB, First Down N Surfin, and
Runaway Wave, the latter the dam of Champions Ocean Runaway and Wave Carver, and the 2005 Broodmare Of The Year.
With such a strong female
family behind them and a
catalog page full of black type,
Doughtie consigned all three
of Ocean Express’ 2010 foals
to the 2011 Los Alamitos
Equine Sale. The Tac It Like
A Man filly sold for $11,500
and the Stel Corona filly for
$8,000. But the Stel Corona colt...Doughtie bought that one back for $11,000.
“This one he had in the sale here last year and he was going to sell him. He had never seen the horse,” trainer Paul Jones said of Doughtie and Stel My Corona. “He asked me, ‘Look at this horse, should I sell him or keep him?’ I went and looked at him and said, ‘I like him! Don’t sell him!’ So he bought him back. Tonight in the
paddock is the first time he ever saw him.” Doughtie and his wife, Molly, picked the
perfect time to travel to California to watch their horse run in person. Breaking from post position seven in the full field of 10, Stel My Corona bobbled slightly at the start but still went straight to the lead. In a wire-to-wire effort under jockey Rodrigo Aceves, Stel My
Corona crossed the finish line a half-length in front of Jr Dynasty Mountain, with favored Far Niente a head back in third.
“He grabbed a quarter, but he’ll be fine. Rodrigo said he stumbled a little
bit out of the gate...made
a little bobble...and that’s where he grabbed a quarter. Luckily for me it didn’t bother him too bad,” said Jones, who was winning his second PCQHRA Breeders’
Futurity, having also captured the race in 2010 with The Goodbye Kisser.
“He’s always been a good-looking little horse. I’ve always kind of liked him, but he hasn’t really stepped up to the plate to show that he’s a good horse,” Jones continued of Stel My Corona. “He’s been a nice horse that looks the part, and I thought he was a nice horse, but he never really showed it until the trials,
Los Alamitos $382,000 • 350 yards :17.498 • si 89
Corona Cartel
Stel Corona
Our Lips Are Sealed
STEL MY CORONA, ’10-g.
Fishers Dash
Ocean Express
Ocean Memories
Stel My Corona and Rodrigo Aceves make a wire-to-wire run to win the $382,000 PCQHRA Breeders’ Futurity-G2 at Los Alamitos.
78 SPEEDHORSE, November 2, 2012
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