Page 28 - 2 March 2012

We have been racing Quarter Horses in Florida now for three years and it gets better and better each year.
by Dr. Steve Fisch
Another successful Hialeah racing Quarter Horse meet finished just as breeding season 2012 got underway. Exciting things are happening on both the racing and breeding fronts
in Florida. The 2011/2012 meet was Hialeah Park’s third successive year of racing American Quarter Horses and it was a big success. Average daily atten- dance to watch the fastest horses on earth was over 4,000. The 2011/2012 meet was a 32-day meet with at least eight Quarter Horse races per day and over $120,000 per day in average purses with total purse money being over $4 million. It was the second meet of a six-year agreement between Hialeah Park and FQHRA, Inc. 2012/2013 is the final year of a mini- mum requirement of 30 days of racing. The purses in 2012/2013 will again average $120,000 per day. In 2013/2014 the number of days from that year forward will climb to 40 days minimum with $140,000 aver- age per day for a minimum of eight races per day.
The stakes and overnight race schedule was well received by the horsemen who brought close to 900 horses to race at Hialeah. The average field size was 9.7 through the first nine weeks and then dropped to a very respectable 9.1. There were seven major stakes races worth $994,330 total with the top money- earning race being the $223,840 Hialeah Laddie Futurity that was won by North Carolina owner Donald Ray Jacobs’s RD First Pick. The $186,220 Hialeah Lassie Futurity went to owners White/ Heydenreich/Metcalf/Cate’s Shes Jess Dynamite. The $92,700 FQHRA Stallion Stakes Futurity went to Keener Hernandez’s Color Stone and the $54,120 FQHRA Stallion Stakes Derby went to Karl Smith, DVM’s Takin Quick Cash. Z.V. Oropallo’s accred- ited Florida Bred Mr Speed Wrench was third in
that Derby. The $169,300 Hialeah Derby was won by Jose Ivanez’s Tortuga Tony. On the final day
with over 6,000 in attendance and total handle over $264,000, the $75,000 Hialeah Invitational was won by J.K. Running Horses LLC’s Jess A Runner and the $193,150 South Florida Derby was won by Floridian J.L Gladwell’s owned and homebred accredited Florida Bred, Ima Gator Fan. Alicia Smith’s accred- ited Florida Bred Feature My News was third in the Derby and he was bred by Floridian Bill McKibbin. All the accredited Florida Bred’s running at Hialeah that finished in the top four will receive up to 20 per- cent extra in breeders/owners awards. An example is Ima Gator Fan, who will receive $12,979 in breeders/
owners awards for winning the South Florida Derby. Feature My News’ connections will receive $3,708.48 in owner/breeders awards for his third-place finish in the South Florida Derby.
Everyone has been asking for “accredited Florida Bred races” and the 2015 $200,000 Guaranteed Florida Bred Futurity seems to fit the bill. This race is restricted to accredited Florida Breds that are conceived in 2012. A Florida Bred is any foal sired by an accredited Florida stallion no matter where it is born, or, a foal conceived in 2012 not by an accred- ited Florida stallion but born in Florida in 2013 with the mare bred back to an accredited Florida stallion in 2013. It is very critical that the rules for accredita- tion are followed exactly as laid out on the FQHRA website. There will be no exceptions!
FQHRA has also negotiated to have at least one restricted accredited Florida Bred race per week and to have at least 50 percent of the races offered to be accredited Florida Breds preferred at each meet. All races in FQHRA sanctioned meets, including stakes races and restricted Florida Bred races in Florida, qualify for the up to 20 percent owners/breeders accredited Florida Bred awards on horses placing 1-4.
FQHRA is continuing to work in the legislature and through the court system to clarify the definition of horse racing in Florida. Gretna Racing’s attempt to skirt state laws by having barrel racing in 2011/2012 may actually have sped things along for Florida Quarter Horse racing. The attention their scheme has received has brought Quarter Horse racing and the economic benefits it brings to Florida to the forefront of legislative discussions. The prospects are very good that this issue will be straightened out in the courts or legislatively in the near future. FQHRA has repre- sented the horsemen non-stop in the legislature and in legal proceedings for the last several months.
Several Quarter Horse permits including Pompano Park, Ocala Breeders Sales and at least three other Quarter Horse permits have applied for days in the 2012/2013 fiscal year. These applications open several doors to negotiations for more quality Quarter Horse racing opportunities in Florida. We have been racing Quarter Horses in Florida now for three years and it gets better and better each year. FQHRA looks forward to serving the horsemen in a thriving Florida Quarter Horse racing industry. We know we couldn’t do it without you. We wish you great racing and breeding luck in 2012.
FLORIDA
Good news from the Sunshine State
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SPEEDHORSE, March 2, 2012
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