Page 8 - 14 September 2012

And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow. -G.K. Chesterton
RAINBOWS
Daring to dream.
by Stacy Pigott
One of my favorite songs has always been “Over The Rainbow,” written for Judy Garland and immortalized in the classic
movie The Wizard Of Oz. The lyrics start like this:
Somewhere over the rainbow Way up high,
There’s a land that I heard of Once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream Really do come true.
When you’re talking Quarter Horse racing,
the land “way up high” that is spoken of in almost mystical terms and with the greatest reverence is “the Mountain,” or Ruidoso Downs. It truly is the place where the dreams people dare to dream—Quarter Horse racing’s biggest dream of winning the All American Futurity—come true every year.
The dream became a reality this year for Jose and Gustavo De La Torre and San Gregorio Racing Stables, represented by Jorge Carmona. The Californians left home and braved the Mountain, and when it was all said and done, the De La Torres and Carmona grasped the coveted All American Futurity trophy won by their One Dashing Eagle. But theirs was not the only dream realized over the Labor Day weekend.
In mid-August, Micah and Leslie McKinney,
of Reliance Ranches, unveiled an owner incentive program aimed at eliminating the use of drugs in Quarter Horse racing. Dubbed Racing Free, the program promised to pay back owners who enrolled their horses in Racing Free with rich dividends for drug-free wins. And on Friday, Aug. 31, it worked.
J. Garvan Kelly and Nancy Yearsley had enrolled several horses in the Racing Free program at a cost of $300 per horse. Two of those horses won at Prairie Meadows on that Friday night, and the McKinneys saw their dreams realized when Racing Free was able to write its first check for $3,000—$1,500 per win— in support of drug-free racing.
By the time the big race ran on Labor Day, Ruidoso Downs had already put out a press release promising tougher penalties for Class I and II drug offenders. Offenders will be immediately banned from the grounds, have their stalls revoked and be unable to enter horses. The Downs at Albuquerque
A Ruidoso Downs rainbow was the perfect end to a great weekend on “the Mountain.”
quickly followed suit, pledging to suspend the privilege of any trainer to participate in any racing at the Downs immediately upon an initial positive test. If the state racing commission eventually rules that the trainer did violate regulations for banned drugs, the trainer will be permanently barred. In the days following, Dr. Allred, at Los Alamitos Race Course, reiterated the tough stance his California track has already taken on drug use, having denied access to five trainers since the beginning of the year.
It’s all great news in the war against drugs in Quarter Horse racing. And while we haven’t realized the dream of doing away with illegal drugs quite yet, all of these things are surely steps in the right direction. As the song continues, “Someday I’ll wish upon a star; And wake up where the clouds are far; Behind me.”
We’ve all been wishing on a lot of stars, want-
ing answers to the problems plaguing our industry. “Someday” isn’t here, and the clouds aren’t behind us yet, but over Labor Day weekend, the sun started to shine through the clouds just a little bit. As I sat in the press box after the All American Futurity, think- ing back on the weekend, it seemed only fitting to look up and see a rainbow, shining brightly overhead and carrying all of the dreams that we dare to dream into the future.
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SPEEDHORSE, September 14, 2012
UNDER WRAPS
Stacy Pigott: Speedhorse