Page 108 - 18 January 2013

2012 A YEAR IN REVIEW
November 3
Speedhorse crowns Super Glide Harley APHA (Awesome Chrome- Biker Chick) as the first Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa High-Point Champion. The 2-year-old colt was bred by Steven B. Wright and is owned by Paint Horse Queens, who won a trophy and belt buckle, along with an additional $2,500 donated by High Point Champion sponsor RaMax Farms. Trained by Dee Keener, Super Glide Harley finished third in the first leg, the $240,760 Speedhorse Graham Paint & Appaloosa Futurity at Remington Park on May 26, second in the second leg, the $109,988 Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa Futurity at Fair Meadows on Aug. 4, and second in the third and final leg, the $103,762 Lone Star Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa Futurity at Lone Star Park.
December 10
The Board of Directors of Texas H.O.R.S.E announces Dan Fick of Granbury, Texas, will be their new executive director effective Jan. 1, 2013. Fick served as the AQHA Executive Director of Racing from 1984-2003; the Executive Director for The Thoroughbred Jockey Club from 2003- 2009; and the Director of Racing at Remington Park in Oklahoma City from 2011-2012. Texas HORSE is a non-profit association formed to preserve the $5.2 billion Texas horse industry.
December 11
The Ocala Breeders’ Sales train- ing track hosts live racing for
the first time ever, running two races—one for Quarter Horses— to activate the permit that would allow the facility to also operate a card room. The race was a good faith effort with Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association to work toward more Quarter Horse racing and a full race meet at Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company (OBS) in the future.
November
December
November 12
Proving the versatility of
the American Quarter Horse, former racehorse
Fly The Red Eye is named Reserve World Champion in Performance Halter Stallions at the AQHA World Championship Show.
November 17
The Michigan House of Representatives and Senate approve legislation that lays the groundwork for expanded gaming at the state’s racetracks. The legisla- tion awaits the Governor’s signature. The change will allow instant racing machines at racetracks and will help slow the recent decline of the racing industry in the state due to the rapid growth of casinos and the lottery.
December 14
The Saddle Brook Jockey Club opens the doors on
a new simulcast facility in Amarillo, Texas. As the owners of the license to build the first horse racing facility in West Texas—Saddle Brook Park—Texas law allows the temporary simulcast facility, Saddle Brook Jockey Club, as plans for live racing move forward.
December 24
The Ruidoso Downs Racehorse
Hall of Fame announces its 2013 inductees—owner Bobby Cox, trainer James McArthur, jockey Roy Brooks and leading sire Corona Cartel. The inductees will be honored in late June 2013 at Ruidoso Downs.
November 19
The Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana holds their first Turkey Give-A Way in conjunction with the Salvation Army, supplying 100 free turkeys to local families. The event
is such a success it is repeated in December, just before Christmas, with Indiana Downs also chipping in a bag of food and a fresh baked pie.
December 12
The Tulsa County fair board meets and reverses several decisions dating back to Nov. 1 that would have resulted in the cancellation of live racing at Fair Meadows at Tulsa in 2013. Live racing is reinstated at Fair Meadows for 2013 thanks to the joint efforts of the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association (OQHRA) and the Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma (TRAO).
December 13
The Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders Association Breeders’ Futurity-RG1 becomes the first ever state-bred race to carry a purse of more than $1 million.
106 SPEEDHORSE, January 18, 2013
Speedhorse
Courtesy Erin Knox
Dustin Orona Photography
Reed Palmer Photography