Page 63 - 2 March 2012

Key West Challenge stakes
sKyLine LoVeR
by Stacy Pigott
skyline Lover has made a habit of winning
races lately, stringing together four consecu-
tive wins from Dec. 10 to his most recent score in the $21,500 Key West Challenge Stakes on Feb. 5
at Hialeah Park. His streak includes the 550-yard Orange Blossom Stakes and the Crystal River and Moonstone Stakes, both at 660 yards. The Key West was contested at the rare Quarter Horse distance of 1,000 yards, requiring special approval from AQHA to gain official stakes status.
Four horses were scratched from the Key West, leaving only three horses to face the starter. Skyline Lover, from the middle post, flew away from the gates and was in front by three lengths at the first call. Under jockey Shanley Jackson, the 6-year-old gelding was never headed, cruising home to a 2 1/2-length victory in a time of :52.224.
Owned by Dan Frazier and trained by Matt Frazier, Skyline Lover earned $13,975 of the purse to increase his lifetime account to $274,113. The ultra- consistent Feature Mr Jess gelding has won 14 of 32 starts including 10 stakes races. Bred by Dr. James Burgess, Skyline Lover is one of only two starters for his dam, the Royal Quick Dash mare Loves That Gold, and is her only stakes winner.
Betty Marshall’s Absolve (Check Him Out-Beat Your Pants Off) finished second. Adam Martinez rode the 7-year-old gelding for trainer Richard Sedillo. Absolve won an optional claiming race in
his last start. Sedillo also trained third-place finisher Royal Initiative (Royal Quick Dash-Fortuna Babe). Marshall co-owns Royal Initiative with Sheri Galvez. Brian Theriot rode the 5-year-old gelding who finished second to Skyline Lover in the Moonstone Stakes in his last start.
The remaining four horses that were entered— Checotah Dave, Flyin Fish, Kudos For Quick Dash and Midnight Bushwhacker—were scratched.
Roble Rojo bonus Challenge
eTHiCs AsiDe
by John Moorehouse
ethics Aside charged to victory with relative ease in the $22,000 Roble Rojo Bonus Challenge Stakes held Feb. 12 at Hialeah Park. Jorge Luis
Gonzalez’s 6-year-old stallion broke right with Oh My Gol Sis at the front of the field, but soon sepa- rated himself from the rest of the pack and dashed to a strong 1 1/4-length win.
Also trained by Gonzalez, Ethics Aside covered the 300 yards in :15.171 and posted a 105 speed index that stands as the second-highest of his career. Jeremy Garcia was aboard. Gonzalez collected a $13,200 payday that boosted the stallion’s total earnings to $50,869.
Ethics Aside reached the winner’s circle for the fourth time in 22 outs—a rather low total for a horse of his age. In fact, aside from a 10-start campaign
in 2010, the stallion never has made more than four outs in a single calendar year.
While five of Ethics Aside’s siblings are stakes- placed, he becomes the first stakes winner out of the brood for Daring Difference, a 1992 mare who is a graded stakes winner herself. Daring Difference won the 1994 Heritage Place Futurity at Remington Park, the watershed mark in a career that included three wins and $329,000 in prize money. Joe Kirk Fulton owns Daring Difference and bred Ethics Aside.
Jess Phenomenal (Feature Mr Jess-Miss Mighty Casady), who was coming off a victorious run in the Banyan Tree Stakes last month, finished second for Alejandro Medina. Trainer Ricardo Martinez did
the prep work and Francisco Ramirez Jr. was in the irons. Jess On A High (Fly Jess Fly-High On Piaget), the biggest longshot in the field at 19-1, took third for owner/trainer David Eastwood. Cesar Carillo rode.
Oh My Gol Sis (Sis B Gol-Oh My Miss Kitty), Bold Badon (Dale Badon-Darbs Doll), Aquafina (First Down Dash-Runaway Wave) and Speed Smith (Prime Talent-Speedy Empress) rounded out the field. Flyingwitheagles and Jessgonnafly scratched.
Anaheim Handicap
JuMPn sHAKe
by Stacy Pigott
Jaime Gomez wasn’t able to be at track when he became the seventh trainer in history to win 1,000 Quarter Horse races at Los Alamitos. Be he was there for win #1,001, which came with Jumpn Shake in the $16,000 Anaheim Handicap on Feb. 12.
Jockey Carlos Huerta was aboard Jumpn Shake, who dueled with Jus Ledoux It through the early stages of the race before pulling away to win by three-quarters of a length. The Jumpn colt covered the 350 yards in :17.532, recording his seventh victory in 16 starts. In 2010, he won the Gillespie County Fair Futurity-G3.
“This horse can run and there’s no doubt about that,” Gomez said of the colt that is owned by Bobby Cox and Chad Hart. “Bobby and Chad sent him here because they feel that the 300 and 350-yard stakes races that we run here will suit him perfectly. Look at him tonight, he loved the distance and looked great winning this race.”
Jumpn Shake earned $8,800 in the Anaheim to take his career earnings to $142,944. Dutch Masters III bred the 4-year-old colt out of the Mr Jess Perry mare Jess Shakem. He is a full brother to stakes- placed Stevie Six.
Frosty Younger (Separatist-Perfect Mom), who was looking for his third straight victory, settled
for a runner-up effort under jockey Cesar DeAlba. Valentin Zamudio trains and co-owns the 4-year-old gelding with Julio Encinas. Vessels Stallion Farm and Bustardos Horse Racing’s Jus Ledoux It (A Regal Choice-Sometimes You Win) hit the wire third with Gregorio Arriaga up for trainer Felipe Quintero.
First Black Wagon (PYC Paint Your Wagon-First Black Rose), Flaming Out (Walk Thru Fire-Jetsetting Girl), Significant Cartel (Corona Cartel-Dash Master Miss), Go Straight (TR Dasher-Crooksy), TR Eddie (TR Dasher-Corona Clique) and Cash Him Out (Separatist-Cash Her Out) completed the field.
Hialeah Park • $21,500 1,000 yards • :52.224 • si 102
Mr Jess Perry
Feature Mr Jess
SKYLINE LOVER, ‘06-g. Loves That Gold
Brenda Feature Royal Quick Dash
Gold An Rubys
Hialeah Park • $22,000 300 yards • :15.171 • si 105
Mr Jess Perry ETHICS ASIDE, ‘06-s.
Streakin La Jolla
Scoopie Fein
Victory Dash
Daring Difference
Bedawee
Los Alamitos • $16,000 350 yards • :17.532 • si 88
Jumpn JUMPN SHAKE, ‘08-s.
Chicks Beduino
Imjumpn
Mr Jess Perry
Jess Shakem
Shake Em Six
SPEEDHORSE, March 2, 2012 61
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