Page 16 - January 2021

TRACK CHATTER
THE MONTH IN REVIEW
by Jennifer K. Hancock
DANJER & POWERFUL FAVORITE NEWEST TAQHA SUPREME RACE HORSES
he American Quarter Horse Association awarded Powerful Favorite and Danjer the title of AQHA Supreme Race Horse
at the end of 2020. The title is bestowed upon a racing American Quarter Horse that earns $500,000 or more, wins two or more open Grade 1 stakes races and is victorious in at least 10 races during its career.
Powerful Favorite notched the final qualifi- cation for the award on Aug. 30 when he won the Go Man Go Handicap-G1 at Los Alamitos. The now 5-year-old gelding races for Champion Owner Rosenthal Ranch LLC and is trained
by Champion Trainer Chris O’Dell. Bred by James Markum and Dr. Steve Burns, the horse is by Favorite Cartel and out of the AQHA Dam of Distinction Remember Me Rose. Powerful Favorite has won 12 of 22 career starts and earn- ings of $890,222. His first Grade 1 victory came in the 2019 Los Alamitos Winter Derby.
Danjer completed the requirements of the Supreme title Oct. 24 when he captured the Bank of America Challenge Championship-G1 at The Downs at Albuquerque. The stakes victory, which was his second Grade 1, was his 10th career win from 19 career starts. Danjer, who is now 5 years old, is an FDD Dynasty gelding out of the Take Off Jess mare Shez Jess Toxic. He was bred and
is trained by Dean Frey, who also co-owns the horse in partnership with Downtime Enterprises LLC and Billy Smith. The horse has career earn- ings of $852,772. He notched his first Grade 1 victory on Sept. 20 by winning the Downs at Albuquerque Championship Handicap-G1.
Powerful Favorite and Danjer become the 44th and 45th horses, respectively, since 2002 to earn this honor. Only 117 horses in total have earned the award; the other awards were given retroactively.
INDIANA GRAND DATES APPROVED FOR 2021
Indiana Grand Racing & Casino received approval for 2021 racing dates at the December monthly meeting of the Indiana Horse Racing Commission. The schedule will offer 120 days of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing beginning April 13 and running through Nov. 4.
The Shelbyville, Indiana track’s 2021 meet will begin with a hybrid schedule of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday racing in
April moving to the full schedule of Monday through Thursday in May.
“We worked off our successful schedule from 2020 in cooperation with our horsemen’s groups to determine the best possible days of the week for racing for both Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing,” said Eric Halstrom, vice president and general manager of racing. “We feel we have found our niche during the week in those mid-afternoon start times. By moving Thursdays an hour later, we hope to attract the after-work crowd, which allows us to hold some fun events for the on-track racing guests and also puts us in an even better spot on the national simulcasting scene.”
A total of eight Saturdays will also be included on the schedule with Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing held May 1, which is Kentucky Derby Day, and Oct. 30, which is Indiana Champions Day.
Six all-Quarter Horse days have been allot- ted throughout the meet. Dates set exclusively for the sprinters include June 5, July 3, July 24, Aug. 14, Sept. 4 and Oct. 9 – all Saturdays.
“We identified an opportunity to get our Quarter Horse signal out to more racing fans on Saturday mornings,” added Halstrom. “We saw tremendous growth in handle during this time and also saw good on-track crowds. We anticipate seeing even more growth for handle and on-track attendances for Quarter Horse racing in 2021.”
LOUISIANA DOWNS OPENS JAN. 23
The 2021 Quarter Horse racing season at Louisiana Downs gets underway Jan. 23. The Louisiana State Racing Commission approved the track’s request for a 46-day meet, subject to ratification.
Louisiana Downs has the distinction of hosting the first official futurity of the year, the $100,000-added Mardi Gras Futurity-RG2, which will take place March 27.
Last year’s final of the Harrah’s Futurity could not be completed as Louisiana Downs was forced to curtail the final two days of the 2020 Quarter Horse meet due to COVID-19.
The barn area opened Jan. 2 and the first draw was scheduled for Jan. 16. Louisiana Downs will also offer schooling races on Feb. 12 for 2 year olds paid into the Mardi Gras Futurity and schooling races for the Harrah’s Futurity nominees hosted on Feb. 19. On April 3, the track will hold the $75,000-added Harrah’s Futurity. The meet continues through April 7.
“This has been a challenging year for
everyone in Louisiana with the COVID-19 pandemic and one of the most destructive hurricane seasons in history,” Director of Racing David Heitzmann said. “Modifications in the stakes schedule were necessary, but we are pleased to offer our loyal horsemen a full 46-day live racing schedule.”
AQHA ANNOUNCES CHALLENGE SCHEDULE
The American Quarter Horse Association’s Bank of America Challenge regional stakes are set to kick off in March, with new locations added to the tentative schedule.
The tentative schedule of 2021 regional Bank of America Racing Challenge races is available at www.aqha.com/racing.
New locations for regional stakes have been added for 2021.
Among these new locations are The Downs at Albuquerque, which will offer a $65,000-added Bank of America Albuquerque Championship Challenge in late August. This is in addition to the track’s other regional race it hosts, the AQHA Albuquerque Distance Challenge, set to run in mid-August.
Grants Pass in Grants Pass, Oregon, will offer the $40,000-added Bank of America Grants Pass Championship Challenge at 440 yards for older horses.
Indiana Grand will host two regional Challenge races – the $30,000-added John Deere Indiana Grand Juvenile Challenge, and the $20,000-added Merial Indiana Grand Distaff Challenge.
The Bank of America Challenge regional races are scheduled to begin March 27,
when Remington Park is set to offer the $60,000-added Bank of America Remington Championship Challenge.
On Oct. 23, 2021, the winners of the various AQHA Challenge regional stakes will convene in New Mexico at The Downs at Albuquerque for the Bank of America Challenge Championships.
Got Good News to Share?
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14 SPEEDHORSE January 2021