Page 183 - Speedhorse November 2019

Alex Picov Memorial Champ.
COUNTRY BOY 123
by John Moorehouse
Country Boy 123 keeps racking up stakes wins. Making his 34th career out, the six-year-old gelding tallied his 10th victory in stakes com-
pany, taking the $43,399 Alex Picov Memorial Championship at Ajax Downs on Oct. 14.
Owned and trained by Ruth Barbour, Country Boy 123 now has 22 career wins, and the $22,256 prize from this event increased his total earnings to $344,930. He’s won the past three runnings of the Picov Memorial Championship, and nine of his 10 triumphs in stakes races have come at Ajax Downs. Country Boy 123 also is a three-time winner of the Ajax Downs Horse of the Year award.
Drawing the 2-gate, Country Boy 123 grabbed the lead by the first call and never relinquished it. He led by 1/2-length entering the stretch and held on
to win by that same margin, finishing his 440-yard trip in :21.980 and registering a 96 speed index. Ed Walton drew the riding assignment.
Carolyn Bay bred Country Boy 123 out of Texas Distaff Challenge-G3 winner Very Dashin 123. The mare has produced 100% winners from four starters. Country Boy 123 is her only stakes winner.
A pending matchup between Country Boy 123 and another multiple stakes winner, Had To Be Ivory, never materialized. A winner of 11 of 14 prior starts, Had To Be Ivory had beaten Country Boy 123 head-to-head twice earlier this year.
Express Your Desire (Desirio-Midnight Express B) finished second for Renee Wilson. The Tom Dunlap trainee had German Rodriguez aboard.
Maryland Magic (PYC Paint Your Wagon-Purley Un Social) hit the board in third for owner Milena Kwiecien and trainer Jason Pascoe. Shanley Jackson did the riding.
Had To Be Ivory (Ivory James-Had To Be Fandango) completed the finishing order. Zoomn Blue scratched.
Alex Picov Memorial Futurity
EAZY STREET
by Michael Compton
Eazy Street, a 2-year-old sorrel gelding, has made the first four starts of his career look just as his name suggests. Eazy Street has won each of his starts
- all at Ajax Downs - and remained undefeated with a facile score in the $51,255 Alex Picov Memorial Futurity on Oct. 7.
Ridden by regular rider Tony Phillips, Eazy Street jumped out of the 4-gate on the lead in the 400-yard fixture and never looked back. He sprinted clear of his rivals and drove clear to a wire-to-wire 1/2-length victory. Trained by Bryn Roberston, the gelding stopped the clock in :20.650, earning an 81 speed index.
Owned by Jaime and Carol Robertson, Eazy Street is now perfect in four tries and sports earnings of $49,848 with this $20,502 winner’s share. This was his second stakes win, having also annexed the Ontario Bred Futurity.
Guylaine Paquin bred Eazy Street out of lightly raced Easily Holland. She has produced 100% money earners from eight starters. Eazy Street is her first stakes winner.
A Lone Hand (Azure Down There-Special Royal Tokeon) finished a game second for owner James Bogar and trainer Barry Wood. The bay gelding
had previously finished second in the Ontario Sires’ Stakes Futurity on Aug. 25. Sweet Night Fever (Sweet First Down-Do Ya Disco), who is still in search of his initial win, and jockey Cory Spataro rallied late to finish third for owner/trainer Craig Spada. Followed by Silkin Siri (Desirio-Silken Memories), SW Artemisia (Second Painted Sign-Snowbound Lady Bug), Jess Carolinas Award (Winners Award-Jess Carolina), CC Senator Page (Louisiana Senator- Cassandra Chick), Rowdy And Bodacious (Bodacious Jess-Make Us A Miracle), Hidden Memory (Coronado Cartel-Is It Memorex) & SW I Am Snow Kool (Second Painted Sign-Barbie Kool).
Polk County Derby
APOLLITICAL QUEEN
by John Moorehouse
Apollitical Queen went into the Polk County Derby as the betting favorite, and left Prairie Meadows as the winner of the $80,000 stakes on Oct. 12.
Racing for trainer Alex Wessels, the filly broke from the 5-post mid-pack under Brett Birzer, was second at the first call, slipped to third going into the stretch and then made a driving finish, overtaking her competitors and hitting the finish line first by a head.
Apollitical Queen’s win streak included a victory in the Sept. 28 Polk County Derby trials, helping her go off at 3-2 odds at post time.
Making her first stakes final of the year, Apollitical Queen was slightly quicker than her quali- fying run, finishing in :19.763 for a 95 speed index.
B/B Wessels LLC owns the three-year-old sorrel filly, who is undefeated in four starts thus far as a sophomore after a tough rookie campaign. She has made a total of eight career starts, and the $36,000 prize from her first stakes win improved her lifetime earnings to $78,187. Apollitical Queen finished fourth in the Jim Bader Futurity last year.
Apollitical Queen was bred by Kirk Wessels out of unraced Heros Queen. The mare has produced 100% money earners from three starters. Apollitical Queen is her first stakes winner. Her second dam is Lazy E Futurity-G2 winner Queen Of Anywhere.
Jimy Bufet (FDD Dynasty-Cartels Belle) was sec- ond for owners John Lawless and Joe Morgan. David Brown rode the gelding for trainer Tom Wellington. CR Lil Bro (PYC Paint Your Wagon-LW Evening Lajolla) was third under Berkley Packer for owners Richard & Curt Tobin and trainer Jason Olmstead.
High Time To Fly (Apollitical Jess-Regally Rare), JA Go Forest Go (Gol-JA Impetuously), Lil Quick Wagon (Lil Kool Wagon-Ru Special) & Rowdy Anywhere (Carters Cartel-Queen Of Anywhere) completed the field. Fire Up Ado B, Shesa Favorite Gal & Streakin Jesszee scratched.
Ajax Downs • $43,399 440 yards • :21.980 • si 96
Chicks Beduino
Country Chicks Man
COUNTRY BOY 123, ‘13-g. Very Dashin 123
Country Zevi Dash Thru Traffic
Very Striking
Ajax Downs • $51,255 400 yards • :20.650 • si 81
Valiant Hero
Mighty B Valiant
EASY STREET, ‘17-g. Easily Holland
Mighty B Doll Holland Ease
Easily A Doll
Prairie Meadows
$80,000 • 400 yards • :19.763 • si 95
Mr Jess Perry
Apollitical Time
Valiant Hero
Apollitical Jess
APOLLITICAL QUEEN, ‘16-f.
Heros Queen
Queen Of Anywhere
SPEEDHORSE, November 2019 181
RACING NEWS
Clive Cohen
Clive Cohen
Coady Photography