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Jess Savin Candy’s winning connections include owner Dutch Masters III, trainer John Stinebaugh and jockey Francisco Calderon.
RACING NEWS
The partners liked what they saw and pur- chased Jess Savin Candy for $30,000. He has already proved a terrific bargain, winning the Futurity first-place purse of $420,000.
Streelman and Dale put Jess Savin Candy into training with John Stinebaugh. Jess Savin Candy, now a gelding, made his debut in the futurity trials. He missed the win
by just a head to Jess Fire Me, and they were the two fastest qualifiers from both days of trials.
That didn’t impress bettors as much as did other horses with more racing experi- ence. Third fastest qualifier Revenant Moon, winner of the Oklahoma Futurity-G2 at Remington Park, went off as the 9-10 favorite. A bad start in the final, however, eliminated her chances.
Jess Savin Candy didn’t have the best of starts either, hopping when the gate opened. But he quickly got back into the race for jockey Francisco Calderon.
“He was a little fidgety in the gate,” said Streelman. “Just like in the trials, much to our despair, he hopped when they opened the gate. The eight horse (Jess Fire Me) was out and running, but we had a wide-open path and ran him down.”
Jess Savin Candy was second behind Jess Fire Me at the top of the stretch and drove
past the colt to score with a neck margin in :17.559 for 350 yards.
“My partner and I were sitting about 60 to 80 yards short of the finish line,” said Streelman. “We thought if he’s with the leaders going by here, we’re going to win the race because we know he can finish.”
Streelman was especially happy for Dale.
“I can’t even describe the emotions that I saw on his face when we saw the horse pass the finish line first,” said Streelman.
Dale had raced The Casanova, Champion 3-Year-Old Gelding of 1998 and also trained by Stinebaugh.
Last year Dutch Masters qualified Flash Bak to the All American Futurity-G1, only to see their hopes dashed when Flash Bak took the brunt of a bumping incident that resulted in two disqualifications. Earlier this year, Flash Bak won the Los Alamitos Winter Derby-G1, and the partners hope to have him ready for one or both of the later derbies at Ruidoso.
The victory was the first in a Ruidoso Triple Crown event for Stinebaugh and Calderon.
“This is a topper,” said Stinebaugh. “Once he got down the racetrack and his lane opened up, I knew it was on.”
Calderon said he feels Jess Savin Candy will do even better as the races get longer.
“He’s big and bold when he runs,” the jockey said.
The O’Neals bred Jess Savin Candy in Oklahoma from their winning homebred mare Savin Grace. Jess Savin Candy is the first starter out of the stakes-placed mare. His third dam, multiple graded winner Miss Six Moons, has produced one graded stakes winners and two other stakes-placed runners.
Jess Fire Me (Walk Thru Fire-Jess Sass Me) finished second under jockey Adrian Ramos. Albert Valles trains the colt for owner Empire Racing. Jess Fire Me’s win- ning trial was his racing debut.
Tanner Thedford rode Tactical Fire (Walk Thru Fire-Ynot Bar) to third for owners Mark and Fay Annette McCloy and trainer Trey Wood. In making his racing debut, Tactical Fire won his futurity trial.
Completing the field were Favorite Blues Man (Favorite Cartel-Amore La Blue), Lethal Jet (Volcom-Lethal Delight), KJ Desparado (Apollitical Jess-Tres Veses), Mr Apollo
Jess (Apollitical Jess-A Delightful Legacy), Apollitical J Legacy (Apollitical Jess-A Delightful Legacy), Vee Aye Pea (Corona Cartel-Jess Significant) and Revenant Moon (A Revenant-Sochi Moon).
114 SPEEDHORSE July 2021