Page 83 - Speedhorse September 2017

According to James Markum, his top runners
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James Markum with Hatefulist.
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Champion sire/Champion brood was his fastest runner.
e sire The Down Side, who Markum said
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HIS TOP RUNNERS
Outside of Charger Bar, James names Blushing By, The Down Side and Hatefulist as his top three runners.
James and Steve Burns partnered in breeding the 1992 Charger Bar daughter Blushing By, by Blushing Bug. Of 26 starts over four years, the multiple graded stakes- winning mare tallied 10 wins, five seconds and two thirds, earning $249,809. At Los Alamitos, she won the Independence Day, Bakersfield, Las Damas-G2 and Go Man Go-G1 handicaps and the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship-G1, and placed second in the Champion of Champions-G1. She also won her trial for the Los Alamitos Derby, placing 10th in the G1 finals. Blushing By was named California’s Champion 3-Year-Old Mare and runner-up for World Champion Mare, taking second in a runoff
to Kool Kue Baby, whom she’d outrun in the Champion of Champions.
“She was probably my first stakes winner,” says James. “I bought her from Steve and Jo. Jo wanted some carpet, so I gave her $10,000
for her half of her. She got her carpet and I got Blushing By. That didn’t work out too well for Jo. I used to catch a little heck on that!
“I’ve only had one horse that I didn’t want to sell, and that was Blushing By,” adds James. “Dr. Allred wanted to buy her and offered me lots of money for her. I saw him at the racetrack one morning and he came
up and put his arm around me and said that Bruce, his trainer, had told him that he didn’t have enough money to buy Blushing By. I said, ‘Doc, you don’t have enough money to buy this mare!’ He just laughed.”
Next on James’ list of top runners, The Down Side (First Down Dash–RR Le Mistral, Easy Jet) was bred in partnership with the Griffeths. “He was the fastest horse I ever raced!” says James. “We sold him to Mr. Hubbard and his group at the Ruidoso Yearling Sale.”
The 2000 colt also became a multiple graded stakes winner, ranked 18th by earnings in 2003. Winning six of nine starts, he ran out $361,792 in his three-year track career, winning his trial and qualifying for the All American Futurity. He also
won the Z. Wayne Griffin Director’s Stakes-G3 twice and the Champion of Champions-G1, and was named Champion Older Horse.
The Down Side’s graded stakes-winning full sister, Revv It Up, whose breeding James also partnered on with the Griffeths, won six of 14 races, taking one second and one third and earning $277,078. She won the Kindergarten Futurity-G1 and her trial
for the Golden State Million Futurity-G1, placing fifth in the final.
James and Steve’s most recent star, Hatefulist (Separatist-Hardly Hateful, Fishers Dash) ranked 43rd by wins in 2015, earning $182,607 in three years on the track and tallying a 13-4-0-2 record. His wins include
his trials for the Ruidoso, Rainbow and All American futurities, finishing 7th in the All American Futurity final. Hatefulist was bred by Vessels Stallion Farm LLC. “(The All American qualification) was a lot of fun!” James says.
Hatefulist’s trainer, Paul Jones, agrees. “It was a big thrill to get Hatefulist to the All American for them. We were really happy with that.”
SPEEDHORSE, September 2017 81