Page 36 - February 2021

SPEEDLINES
It takes a very special two-year-old filly to win the All American Futurity and then being named World Champion is even more rare.
Ricky Ramirez has been aboard the filly for all six of her starts.
Ricky Ramirez
got back in for a short time and then I got out again. In the beginning I never had the quality of
horse that I have now. I couldn’t afford them. I had some decent horses, and we ran second in the Heritage a time or two.”
He continued on about how he renewed his interest in quarter racing. “As I said, I’ve always liked it and we went to the Heritage Sale three or four years ago and I got bit
by the bug again. We have bought two or three and we have been going ever since.” One of those purchases was Barue, winner of the 2016 Easy Jet Stakes-G3. He is a son of leading sire PYC Paint Your Wagon and out of Remington Park Futurity-G1 winner First Prize Leesa by Mr Jess Perry, and First Prize Leesa is out of First Prize Dash, a
full sister to First Down Dash. They also owned The Fiscal Cliff when he was named
the 2017 AQHA Champion Aged Stallion. He is a son of PYC Paint
Your Wagon and out of the mare Signs Zoomer by Shazoom, and Signs Zoomer is out of Stylish Sign, the dam of Champion of Champions-G1 winner Mr PYC To You. The Whitmires sold The Fiscal Cliff in 2019 to Bobby D. Cox.
Ray added this about their trip to the Heritage Place Yearling Sale in 2019, “We had Whistle Stop Cafe marked in the catalog and we liked her breeding. Blane Wood was there, and we had him look at her and he liked her. Turned out to be a really good purchase. We only paid $42,000 for her.”
Whistle Stop Cafe, with her trainer Blane Wood and her jockey Ricky Ramirez, has won all six of her races. Her first stakes win came in the Heritage Place Juvenile. She was then off to Ruidoso to win two Grade one races in the
Rainbow Futurity-G1 and the All American Futurity-G1. Her earnings for the year totaled $1,974,986. She not only took home the AQHA World Champion title, but also was named the AQHA Champion Two Year Old and the AQHA Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.
We have seen over time that it can be hard for a filly to beat colts. Many times, we see that the fillies do well early in the year, but when it comes time for the All American, the colts and geldings have caught up. So, it takes a very special two-year-old filly to win the All American Futurity, and then being named World Champion is even more rare. We see that when we look at Laico Bird, the only other two-year-old filly to win the World Champion title. She did it in 1967 when she won the All American Futurity.
Whitmire tells why he feels his filly is special. “When Blane started her, I don’t
34 SPEEDHORSE February 2021
Whistle Stop Cafe with her connections after winning the $3,000,000 All American Futurity-G1.