Page 28 - September 2015

Mr Trucka Jet wins the 1985 All American Futurity
Our look at the 1985 All American Futurity will begin with the arrival of an unknown quantity and end up with the winner of what would become the third of seven wins for the team of trainer Jack Brooks and jockey Jacky Martin in this great race. Brooks would add an eighth win with Falling In Loveagain.
The new arrival was Mr Trucka Jet. He was
a colt bred by C. Wade Navarre of Lafayette, Louisiana, and he was owned by the Miami Cattle Company (Darrell Kissee and Bob Rasor) and C. Wade Navarre. Mr Trucka Jet was sired by Easy Jet and out of Truckahla by Truly Truckle TB.
The summer of 1985 was a lot like the summer of 1975 with some good runners on the back side of Ruidoso Downs. The Kansas Futurity had been won by Dashing Phoebe and the Rainbow Futurity was won by Brigand Silk, following the pattern set by Chick’s Deck and Chick Called Sue in 1975.
Brigand Silk had dominated the Rainbow with a record performance, setting a track record of 19.37 for the 400 yards. Meanwhile, the connections behind Dashing Phoebe had opted to not run in the Rainbow and go directly to the All American. The success of these two winners would bring them together for their run in the trials and, if both qualified, they would set up
a showdown for dominance in the Ruidoso Triple Crown. Sadly, a showdown between
these two runners never materialized as Brigand
Mr Trucka Jet attempted to duck
in at the gap, “He broke out just a stride, but Martin was able
to realign the colt bringing him into position. He put a left- hand whip on the colt, and it was on to
the finish wire for a $1,000,000 check.”
Mr Trucka Jet wins the 1985 All American Futurity
26 SPEEDHORSE, September 2015
Silk suffered from colic and died shortly after winning his trial for the All American.
Dashing Phoebe won her trial over Racin Image, and she was installed as the favorite to win the race. Racin Image still ran fast enough
to qualify for the finals. Some of the other qualifiers were Sixarun, who had been third in the Kansas and fourth in the Rainbow Futurities; Six Fortunes, second in the Heritage Place Futurity-G1; and Easy One Fine Day, winner of the spring division of the Oklahoma Futurity.
Mr Trucka Jet came to the Jack Brooks barn about four weeks before the trials of the All American. He was already a stakes qualifier in the Firecracker Futurity, but finished fifth after some traffic problems. Despite his being a stakes qualifier, he was considered an underdog as a contender in the All American.
Mr Trucka Jet would give an indication that
he was about to overcome the underdog tag when he became the co-fastest qualifier with Dashing Phoebe. He would enter the gate at odds of 6 to 1 against Dashing Phoebe, who was a 3 to 5 favorite.
Speedhorse summarized the race this way, “Mr Trucka Jet stood perfectly calm in the 4-hole, waiting patiently while the remainder of the field loaded. He took a half-length lead after the first four or five jumps out, making a light attempt to duck in at the gap. He broke out just a stride, but Martin was able to realign the colt bringing him into position. He put a left-hand whip on the colt, and it was on to the finish wire for a $1,000,000 check.”
The winner was paid $1,000,000 of the $2,000,000 purse. He would win in the time of 21.41 seconds, which equaled the stakes record
set in 1984 by Eastex. Mr Trucka Jet was able to hold off Digging For Gold in second place and Six Fortunes was third. Sixarun was fourth. The rest of the field was Muscatel, Timeto Get Off, Dashing Phoebe, Bombay Native, Racin Image and Easy One Fine Day. Mr Trucka Jet paid $13.50 for the win.
Here is an interesting tie between Mr Trucka Jet and Digging For Gold. Mr Trucka Jet was out of Truckahla, who was out of Fly Straw - a famous daughter of Jackstraw TB. Digging For Gold was out of Prissy Gold Digger. Her dam was Broom Straw - a daughter of Jackstraw TB. Ruby Charge, the winner of the 1965 Kansas Futurity and a fourth place finisher in the All American that year, was out of Freda Ruby. Freda Ruby was the dam of Broom Straw.
Mr Trucka Jet would have a record of five wins and one second in his two-year-old year. But, he would never win or place in a stakes race again. He would come back at three for seven more starts with three wins, two seconds and one third. He would only earn $10,483 at three.
Mr Trucka Jet would sire only nine foal crops with only 310 foals, 189 starters, 89 ROM,
and only two stakes winners and three stakes placed foals. His runners earned $766,143.
His leading money winner was Miami Prince ($274,047) with 10 stakes wins and seven Grade 3 events, including the Remington Distance Handicap-G3. All 10 stakes wins were at 870-yards or longer.
Mr Trucka Jet would win the race, but several in the beaten field would go on to influence the breed. As we noted, Sixarun would sire such horses as Tres Seis, the sire of 2011 All
speedlines