Page 61 - February 2021

Rainbow Futurity-G1
“We liked the conformation and the breeding,” said Ray. “Blane looked at her and really liked her. So we jumped on her.”
They had just bought a bargain. In six starts at two, Whistle Stop Cafe earned $1,974,986, and her potential is limitless.
“She just did everything right,” said Wood. “She’s a one-in-a-lifetime horse. We’re just blessed to have her.”
Wood first brought Whistle Stop Cafe to the races at Remington Park in the trials for the Heritage Place Futurity-G1. At 12-1, the best price bettors would get on her all year, she won by a neck, but not quickly enough to get into the final. Instead, she scored by a neck in the Heritage Place Juvenile as the 3-1 favorite.
Ramirez’s comments after that race proved prophetic.
“I think she is talented enough to improve leaps and bounds,” he stated about his mount.
“We will haul her to Ruidoso and see what we can get done there.”
Ruidoso beckoned, and Whistle Stop Cafe answered every challenge.
First came the Rainbow Futurity-G1,
in which she won her trial by 1 3/4-lengths and then powered home in the finals with a 3/4-length winning margin.
“I thought that if she broke good, she was going to be hard to outrun,” said Ray. “She got away good and ran a good race. It impressed the heck out of me.”
Added Wood, “She’s a fast filly and knows exactly what to do.”
Then came the All American Futurity-G1, the one everybody wants to win. For a filly
to add the All American to the Rainbow was an especially tough task—Real Wind in 1976 was the only filly ever to put the two together successfully.
Heritage Place Juvenile
In the trials, Whistle Stop Cafe scored the fastest qualifying time of Day 1, winning her heat by 1/2-length. Ramirez, who had never before won the All American, got Whistle Stop Cafe away from the gate well in the finals,
and she quickly took the lead. The gelding Instygator tried to catch her, but the filly held him off to win by a neck.
“Whistle Stop Cafe is the fastest filly I’ve ever had,” said Wood. “Her heart is bigger than she is. She’s quiet and easygoing, but she knows her job. She had to earn it today, and that’s what she did.”
Lainie called Whistle Stop Cafe “a blessing” at the awards ceremony, aware that they have a truly special horse.
The Whitmires love all of their horses, and Lainie admitted that “when they come to our house, they very seldom leave—she has a home forever.”
Lainie, Ray & Lauren Whitmire.
SPEEDHORSE February 2021 59
Speedhorse Dustin Orona Photography
Ruidoso Downs