Page 170 - August 2019

Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa Futurity-G1
SOUTHERN ELECTRIC APHA
by John Moorehouse
There won’t be a Speedhorse Triple Crown winner for a fourth straight year. After finishing third in the first leg, the Paint gelding Southern Electric bounced back in the $102,800 Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa Futurity-G1, which was held on July 27 at Fair Meadows.
Southern Electric bested DTL Chasin Tale APHA, who won the Speedhorse Graham P&A Futurity, by 1 1/2 lengths in
a wire-to-wire performance. The last horse to win the Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa Triple Crown was Painted Turnpike in 2015.
DTL Chasin Tale and Southern Electric remain neck-and-neck in the Triple Crown Hi-Point Champion standings. DTL Chasin Tale is on top with 19 points, though Southern Electric is right behind with 18. Charlie Rising APHA, who finished second in the Speedhorse Graham P&A Futurity and third at this race at Fair Meadows, is third in the overall standings with 17 points.
Home-bred by Dan and Kaye Jones, Southern Electric now has six wins in eight starts thus far in his racing career. This was his second win in stakes company; he earned black type by winning the PSBA Futurity-G1 at Remington Park back in the spring. The
young gelding also brought in a $39,064 payday for this victory, pushing his lifetime earnings over the six-digit milestone to $136,820. Ironically, the Joneses pondered selling Southern Electric earlier this year.
“We came close because
we had six two year olds
and I said, ‘We can’t run six
two year olds,’” Kaye Jones
recalled. “Our trainer loved
this one. ... He’s been giving me a little bit of a ribbing: do I still want to sell? No, I do not want to sell him now.
“He’s a really nice horse. He’s just been a lot of fun this year. We’ve enjoyed him.”
His run in the Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa Futurity-G1 certainly was an enjoy- able ride for Southern Electric’s connections. The gelding broke on top from the 7-hole, led by a commanding 1 1/2-lengths in the stretch, and coasted to victory by that same margin.
“He broke out on top and just never really looked back,” Jones said.
Ty Blackwell prepped Southern Electric for the race and Andrew Samaniego was
aboard for the stakes win- ner, who finished his 350- yard trip in :17.651 for a 94 speed index. Cody Smith, who rode Southern Electric in the trials, opted to take the call aboard DTL Chasin Tale in the stakes final.
“He knows that he
got my dander up on that one,” Jones said, laughing, “because he did that in the (Speedhorse) Graham and
he beat us in the Graham.”
She noted she has a “friendly competi-
tion” with the owners of DTL Chasin Tale. “I’d definitely like to thank our team,”
Jones said. “We do have a great team. In this business, it really pays. We have a sense of loyalty. We’ve never been ones to jump from one trainer to another or whatever. Cody’s part of it and Andrew is going to be part of it. We love our team. Our team is great.”
The last weekend of July was a good one all the way around for the Joneses at Fair Meadows. Their stallion, CRM Livewire, sired Southern Electric and three other final- ists in the Speedhorse Futurity. On July 26,
Fair Meadows $102,800 • 350 yards :17.651 • si 94
Cartel Success QH
CRM Livewire
Elaina Go Go
SOUTHERN ELECTRIC, ‘17-g.
Southern Cartel
Ze Southern Girl QH
Ze Special
168 SPEEDHORSE, August 2019
Southern Electric & Andrew Samaniego go wire-to-wire in the $102,800 Speedhorse P&A Futurity-G1
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