Page 60 - 27 April 2012

Gianni Franco Samaja Dies
Lake City area. Sorensen was inducted into
the American Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame in 1987. He is survived by his wife, Louie, of 68 years, daughter Maxine, and many other family members and friends.
Rare Bar Dies
1995 Champion Aged Stallion Rare Bar si 114 (Rare Jet-Miss Fair Dolly, Fol’s Native TB) died April 10 in his sleep. Earning $263,396 on the track, the 1990 stallion won 13 races, six stakes events and set two 440-yard track records at Remington Park and Retama Park. He is the sire of nearly $2 million in race earn- ers from 13 crops, including top money earner and new track record
setter Mr Bar Code
si 109 ($237,149).
He is also a leading
barrel horse sire
with multiple barrel
champions. Rare
Bar was bred by
Gary Mead and was
purchased by Joleen
Hales in 2006. He
most recently stood
at her Texoma
Quarter Horses in
Madill, Oklahoma.
“He did not suffer
and there was not a
hair out of place,”
stated Hales. “He
was a really kind
and smart horse and I’m going to miss him.
I was blessed to be in the presence of such an incredible individual.” Rare Bar’s last crop of foals are weanlings this year. He was buried at Texoma Quarter Horses overlooking a lake and the broodmare pasture.
Winner Appointed To CHRB
Calif. Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr. appointed Charles Winner, 71, to the California Horse Racing Board for a term running through July of 2015. Winner worked on John F. Kennedy’s political advance team in 1960, served on various local, state and federal campaigns in California from 1969 through 1975, was secretary to Gov. Pat Brown, and founded both Winner & Associates and Winner & Mandabach Campaigns. A long- time interest in horses grew into a passion, and one of his more notable Thoroughbreds was
a partnership ownership of four-time Grade 1 winner of over $1 million Magical Fantasy. Winner fills the California Horse Racing Board seat vacated by John Harris.
Nebraska Gov. Vetoes Electronic Gaming
Nebraska lawmakers approved a measure
to allow electronic gaming based on previously run horse races at licensed state racetracks. Gov. Dave Heineman, however, vetoed the bill. According to the World-Herald Bureau, Heineman stated the bill would expand gam- bling beyond what the state constitution allows and, “contradicts the spirit of the live horse racing provisions.”
USDA Rejects Bid For Yavapai Downs
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on April 6 rejected former Arizona HBPA president Gary Miller’s $3.25 million bid to purchase Yavapai Downs in Prescott, Arizona. Miller had the high bid at
a bankruptcy auction and hoped to run horse races by this summer.
The asking price for the facility was $12.7 million. The track owes nearly $15 million
in loans to the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development, which has final say on the sale price. According to The Daily Courier, the USDA plans to negotiate with the next highest bidder, Texas horseman Joe Davis, whose original bid was $3 million. Yavapai Downs last held live racing
in 2010 before a bankruptcy court ordered the track sold just days before it was set to open for the 2011 meet.
Gulfstream Park Holds “Quarter Horse” Race
On April 8, closing day of their current meet, Gulfstream Park held a “Quarter Horse” race for the sole purpose of retaining their Quarter Horse license and remain eligible for a second casino license and additional slot machines. The 220-yard, $3,000 race featured two horses that have not been certified as accredited Quarter Horses competing under western saddle with unlicensed owners and trainers, and with barrel race riders as jockeys.
The Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association and the Florida HBPA voiced
their objection to the race in a joint statement released on April 8, stating that the, “unlawful Gulfstream Park event billed as a ‘Quarter Horse’ race is not recognized, authorized or regulated by the American Quarter Horse Association, which regulates and oversees the integrity of all lawful Quarter Horse racing globally and in the United States, including Florida.”
Last December, Gulfstream listed one of its Thoroughbred races as a substitute race under its Quarter Horse permit, a technicality that could give the track the required two Quarter Horse races to fulfill the minimum number to retain their permit. The last time Gulfstream Park conducted an official Quarter Horse race was in 1962.
Top Brazilian
owner and breeder
Gianni Franco
Samaja, 75, died
April 4 after suffer-
ing complications
from a medical pro-
cedure. According
to longtime agent
Vince Genco,
Samaja was one
of the found-
ing breeders of
Quarter Horses in
Brazil. Since 1991,
Samaja bred the winners of 83 races with earn- ings of over $3.2 million, and he was the owner of 89 race winners with earnings of over $3 million. Samaja was the only breeder to have bred two Champions in 2011—Champion Aged Horse and Champion Aged Stallion Good Reason SA, whom he also owned, and South American Champion Fantastic For
Me. His other top horses include homebreds Aladim Bryan SA and Queen Of Appeals. Samaja is survived by his wife, Sonya, daughter Betina, sons Alberto and Claudio, numerous grandchildren, and many other family mem- bers and friends.
Bry Sorensen Dies
Gianni Franco Samaja with Aladim Bryan Sa
Longtime
Quarter Horse
breeder and owner
Bry Sorensen, 85,
died April 1 follow-
ing a long battle with
multiple sclerosis.
Sorensen married his
high school sweet-
heart Louie Draper
in 1944 before
being drafted into
the U.S. Army in
1945 where he served during World War II. He earned many degrees from several universities and colleges in Utah. Sorensen went on to work for 35 years as a teacher, coach and athletic
and drivers education director at the Granite School District, and he was inducted into
the Coaches Hall of Fame in 1989. Sorensen acquired his first horse when he got out of the Army, which led to a love of racing Quarter Horses. Among the many horses he owned were Crop Deck, Chant Dixie, Diamond Leo Bar, Browns Dasher and Barnstormer. He and his wife volunteered to manage and operate Laurel Brown Race Track for many years, and together they hosted horse shows in the Salt
Rare Bar and jockey Troy Crissup return after winning the 1995 Grade 1 AQHA Challenge Championship at Retama Park in track record setting time.
58 SPEEDHORSE, April 27, 2012
Louie and Bry Sorensen
news briefs
Courtesy Ginny Harding
Courtesy Vince Genco
Coady Photography