Page 114 - 18 January 2013

Hialeah Lassie Futurity
MS SOUTHERN DYNASTY
by Michael Compton
Ms Southern Dynasty’s upset of the Hialeah Lassie Futurity as the longest shot in the field on Dec. 30 at Hialeah Park
may have surprised horseplayers, but not Sam Green and trainer Guillermo Valdivia.
Green, who bred and owns the FDD Dynasty filly, sent his
charge to Florida with his
sights set on the Lassie
Futurity despite Ms Southern Dynasty’s three consecutive ninth-place fin- ishes to begin her career.
“Prior to the start of
her 2-year-old season, Ms
Southern Dynasty indi-
cated she was one of the
fastest horses Guil had,”
said Green, who resides in
Monett, Missouri. “In her
first race, she got pinballed
pretty badly. In her next start, she acted up in the gates. She hit the bone above her left eye when she reared and bled out of her nose after the race. She wound up having surgery to repair the bone above her eye. After that, we discovered she had chips in a knee, likely caused by the rough trip in her first race. We had those taken out and gave her plenty of time to recover.”
In her first start back and only the third of her career, not surprisingly Ms Southern Dynasty finished ninth in a maiden dash at Will Rogers Downs in November after being fractious in the gate.
“We sent her to Florida to find her confi- dence,” Green said. “She had excuses in her first few races, but my plan all along was to get her down to Florida. We felt she wasn’t a very confident runner.”
In what proved to be a confidence build- ing race, Ms Southern Dynasty finished third in a Dec. 15 Lassie Futurity trial at Hialeah, earning her a berth in the finals, and more importantly, hinting at the promise she had shown early in her training.
“The rider (Ray Simon) said that she broke decently in the trial, but that she wasn’t sure of what was happening,” Green related. “The first 100 yards she was simply trying to find herself. Once the jockey got her focused, she brought it late in the race.
“Going into the finals I couldn’t believe she was around 20-1,” he added. “I watched the race with my family in our living room, and we
noticed the odds kept creeping up. I don’t think the fans had a lot of confidence in her, but I knew if she could break well she had a shot.”
Break well she did. With Simon back aboard, Ms Southern Dynasty left the barrier alertly and assumed command at the head of
the field. She maintained
a half-length advantage throughout, ultimately crossing the wire a winner by three-quarters of a length. She stopped the timer for the 400 yards in :19.695. Ms Southern Dynasty broke her maiden and became a stakes winner, taking home $74,168.
“This is the biggest win
I’ve had,” he added. “I hope someone can read my story and think about giving the industry a try. I own only two mares
and have six horses in training. If other people can understand you can achieve success in the business without having to own a lot of horses, maybe they will be willing to pursue it like I have.”
Ms Southern Dynasty has every right to be a good one. She is produced from the Corona Cartel mare Southern Price, whom Green bought from her breeder Bill Price. Southern Price has foaled three horses to race and all three are stakes winners. Green acquired the mare when she was carrying her first foal, Miss Southern Jess, who went on to win the 2011
Gold Rush Stakes at Remington Park. Her second foal, who Green sold as a youngster, is the accomplished Priceless Feature. The winner of the 2012 Heritage Place Derby-G2, Priceless Feature also was second in the Rainbow Derby-G1 and Refrigerator Handicap-G1 at Lone Star Park and has earned $375,275.
“My philosophy is to breed her to the best stallions I can afford to get to,” said Green, who is in real estate and has been involved in racing American Quarter Horses for six years. “I figured I need to keep one or two of her fil- lies and breed them.”
Finishing second in the Lassie Futurity was Mahna Mahna with rider Troy Crissup. Owned by Julie and Denis Schoenhofer
and trained by Brian Muse, Mahna Mahna (Corona Cartel-First Down Runner) finished second in her trial race. BP Snowy Success produced a strong late rally to get up for third under David Pinon. BP Snowy Success (Cartel Success-A Snowy Fling) races for Matt Dunn and is also trained by Muse.
Completing the order of finish behind the top three were Whodo Ido (Wave Carver- Baja Luna), Baby Witch (Shazoom-Witchs Streak), Lynns Fortunate One (One Famous Eagle-Haileighs Reeds Dash), Cutie Pie Perry (Jonathan Perry-Some Cute Doll), Sheza Smokey Uno (Sweet First Down-SF Shez Got Form), Panther Speed ( Panther Mountain- Shaded In Speed), Princess Lil Bit (Coronas Leaving You-Princess Toast).
112 SPEEDHORSE, January 18, 2013

First Down Dash
FDD Dynasty
Dinastia Toll BRZ
MS SOUTHERN DYNASTY, ’10-f.
Corona Cartel
Southern Price
Southern Policy
Ms Southern Dynasty and Ray Simon lead from start to finish in the $176,590 Hialeah Lassie Futurity.
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Coady Photography