Page 11 - Speedhorse Canada Spring 2020

2019 AQHRA Award Winners
courtesy AQHRA
SUITS
GRAND CHAMPION RUNNING HORSE,
CHAMPION 2 YEAR OLD,
CHAMPION ALBERTA BRED 2-YEAR-OLD COLT/GELDING by Kathy McNiven
Suits was the Alberta Quarter
Horse Racing Association’s Overall Grand Champion and Champion 2 Year Old, Champion Alberta Bred Two-Year-Old Colt/Gelding and Reserve Champion Alberta Bred. His 2019 record was 11 starts, 2 wins, 2 seconds and 2 thirds. He won $27,200 USD. Suits was born at the Wes and Sue Oulton Ranch on Jan. 31, 2017. He was a striking looking colt from day 1 with his bright coat, wide blaze, and chrome. Suits’ sire is First Timber (Wes Oulton’s million dollar sire), and he is out of the El Rey Burner mare Burners Beauty. It is worth noting
that Suits was the 8th consecutive foal that Burners Beauty has produced
in the month of January. He is third generation from the original stock that the Oulton family began racing and breeding in 1988. Burners Beauty is a full sister to Bugsy Burner, who broke a track record at Evergreen Park and went on to win 7 races at Los Alamitos (the only Alberta bred to do so). She has produced multiple graded stakes placed horses, as well as successful barrel horses. Suits is a full brother to stakes winner Otimberimfallninlove and graded stakes placed O Kingsley. Suits made the trip to Remington Park in Oklahoma, to begin his 2019 career. Although he did not win in 3
starts there, he gained valuable experi- ence that would serve him well in his 2019 Alberta campaign. When this talented gelding then made the trip back to Alberta, and gave a glimpse of what was ahead when he day-lighted the field in the Alberta Stallion Stakes trial on June 27 (at Century Mile, the newest track in Alberta). Something interesting happened at this race. Suits not only won the race, he gained a
fan club. A group of people fell in love with this flashy gelding, and even went so far as to come and visit him in the barn (they included a daughter and granddaughter of a former trainer of the Oultons). The finals of the Alberta Stallion Stakes were held on July 11, and Suits ran a stakes placed third. As with all running Quarter Horses in Alberta, Suits then went on to try his luck at a different track, the beauti-
ful Evergreen Park in Grande Prairie, in the AQHA John Deere Juvenile Challenge. The trials were held on
Aug. 3, and Suits qualified and ran a comfortable fourth in the finals. Then on to yet another track; Century Downs at Balzac Alberta. The trials
of the Alberta Bred Futurity were on Aug. 31 (on Quarter Horse day, the first in history for Alberta), where Suits showed a lot of grit in winning his trial against some tough company
Suits wins his trial to the Alberta Bred Futurity
and running a AAA speed index of
91. The stands were full and a lot of people got their first glimpse of the quality of running Quarter Horses in Alberta. Next came the finals of the Alberta Bred Futurity. Suits ran a gutsy second, narrowly missing the win.
The final big futurity of the year was the Canada Cup, where the Alberta breds compete against some tough open colts. The trials were Oct. 5. Suits showed his talent again, running second, and qualifying for the finals. The Canada Cup final was a bumpy ride for most involved, but Suits ended up third, making him Graded stakes placed again. This is no small feat
in Quarter Horse racing. Suits went home then, having made his owners (and fans) proud. Congratulations to the Oulton family, and good luck to Suits in the derbies this year.
SPEEDHORSE CANADA Spring 2020 11