Page 24 - September 2015

The 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995 & 2005 All American Futurity Winners
1965 All American Futurity Winner SAVANNAH JR
The running of the 2015 All American Futurity G1 is at hand and that means it is time for our annual look back at some of
the previous winners of this great race. When we look back at these races, we see what was happening and how the race evolved for a given year. We get to relive the history of this race, knowing that in 2015 a new story will enter this famous club of All American Futurity winners. This year we will look at the races won by Savannah Jr (1965); Bugs Alive In 75 (1975); Mr Trucka Jet (1985); Winalota Cash (1995) and Teller Cartel (2005).
1975 All American Futurity Winner BUGS ALIVE IN 75
Savannah Jr wins the 1965 All American Futurity
22 SPEEDHORSE, September 2015
The 1965 All American brings into focus some of the obstacles a horse must overcome to not only start, but then to win the race. Some of these obstacles have to include the environment and the horses own outlook on life - and that is the story behind Savannah Jr’s win.
Savannah Jr was a homebred colt and his breeder was J. R. Cates of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cates and his son Roy would be the winning owners. The jockey was Jack Wallace and
his trainer was the late Ted Wells Jr., a 2015 inductee into the AQHA Hall of Fame. Savannah Jr was sired by Everett Jr TB and out of Savannah Gray by Question Mark. Savannah Jr was a full brother to the Cates bred Savannah Cates, an All American finalist in the 1961 All American won by Pokey Bar.
The story of Savannah Jr and the big race begins when he was taken to Wells and the start of his formal training. Wells told Richard Chamberlain in the “Quarter Path” column in the September 2010 issue of The American Quarter Horse Journal that when Savannah Jr
showed up he was pretty rank and green, but a horse with a lot of potential. Wells later found that he was more than just rank, he was a horse with a bad outlook on life. He told Chamberlain the following, “He was kind of a green-broke colt when they brought him to me at Sunland Park. I thought it was just because he was
young and green, but it turned out to be his disposition, too. He was a pretty mean horse.”
Wells soon found out the colt had a lot of potential when he ran his first race at Sunland Park and, “he was left at the gate by two lengths, but won by two lengths.” Savannah Jr and Wells would move on to Raton where they won the Oklahoma Futurity on a muddy track.
Despite the stakes win, Wells found that
his good runner would continue to be a lot to handle - a trait that he would carry throughout his racing career. The proof of the colt’s own misguided ways showed up in the Rainbow Futurity trials. This trial was a race he won, but was disqualified for his erratic behavior, thus leaving him in his stall on Rainbow Futurity day.