Page 40 - November 2017

Barry Petry carries on his family’s love for Quarter Horse racing
FAMILY
PASSI N
by Diane Rice
You might call Dr. Barry Petry the cream ASCENDING THE RANKS Graded stakes placed Jess Good Lookin, a
filling of his family’s racehorse cookie,
because he sits amidst generations of racehorse-lovers in his ancestors. Barry’s grandfather, Reno Petry Sr., raced horses on Louisiana bush tracks way back when, and passed the passion on to his son, Reno Petry Jr., a veterinarian who lived in Jennings from 1957 until his death in 2015.
“We grew up with racehorses,” Barry says
of himself and his brothers, Mark and the late Karl Petry, and his sisters, Leslie and Katharine. “We were always busy with horses. Dad, just like me and now my children, had broodmares and we grew up managing and taking care of horses. As we got older, there was a little lull while we were in school, but even then, we were only 40 minutes away in college so we were home a lot and still involved. Between growing up and being an adult, I never knew not having racehorses.”
And as Barry’s horsemanship abilities developed, so did his ability to pick a winner. “He’s got an eye for picking a good horse,” says longtime family friend Lynn Richard of Iowa, Louisiana. “He’s a good horseman and he’s sharp. He’s had some real good broodmares and some pretty nice colts that did well, and he has helped me a lot. He’s a good friend just like his dad was to me.”
Barry graduated from dental school in May 1986 and by October of that year, he’d purchased his first racehorse: a mare by 1968 stakes-winning Thoroughbred Raise Your Glass (Raise A Native-Champagne Woman, by Barbizon).
But it wasn’t until he bought Genuine Reward, a 1993 mare by First Down Dash
and out of Surfin Susie, by Surf Bug, in
2004 that things picked up for Barry in a big way. “My mom [Ramona Aunbrecker Petry] actually partnered with me on that mare,” says Barry. “Genuine Reward had a yearling and a weanling when I bought her. The yearling, Jess Genuine, ended up being the leading 2-year- old filly in 2005, and the weanling, Genuine Botticelli, qualified to the All American Futurity the next year. [The accomplishments of ] those two put me with a really nice, multiple stakes-producing mare.”
Genuine Reward has since died, but Barry retains her daughter Shez Ruthless, by Heza Fast Dash, in his 10-mare brood band.
Another of Barry’s broodmare band, Mornin Jess, a daughter of Mr Jess Perry out of Morning Snow by This Snow Is Royal, has produced two of his best runners: Jess Good Lookin and Shez The Bomb, both by Heza Fast Dash.
2011 gelding, has earned $158,249 in three years on the track, with a record of 13-4-4(2)- 3(3). His wins include his trial to the Delta Downs Louisiana Bred Derby. He ran second
in the 2014 and 2015 Flying Breed Stakes,
and third in the 2013 Lee Berwick Memorial Louisiana-Bred Futurity-G1, 2015 Treme Derby, and 2015 Louisiana Purchase Stakes. “He was a real nice stakes horse for us,” says Barry. “He ran good at 2, good at 3, and good at 4. He was real honest and consistent.
“Shez The Bomb, Jess Good Lookin’s 2014 full sister, is kind of like that, too,” Barry adds. “She runs real hard every time; she never has
a bad race.” In her freshman year, Shez The Bomb ran fourth in the Lee Berwick Memorial Futurity-G1. In 2017, she earned stakes-winner status in the Audobon Stakes, then ran third in the French Quarter Stakes. She also qualified
to and was a finalist in the Delta Downs Louisiana Bred Derby-G3. “That would put her as my favorite, mostly because she’s a filly and
I still own her,” Barry adds. As of this issue’s publication, she has tallied earnings of $125,081 and a 11-3(1)-1-3(1) record.
Barry’s broodmare band also includes 22-year-old Iwanna Dash, by First Down Dash son Royal Quick Dash and out of Hempens Angel by multiple stakes winner Hempen TB.
38 SPEEDHORSE, November 2017