Page 46 - January 2016 Speedhorse

2015 A YEAR IN REVIEW
October 30
AQHA announced they will implement hair testing for the Association’s Racing Challenge program beginning with the 2016 regional qualifying races and for all championship races. The 2016 Challenge Championships will be held
at Los Alamitos, which has
been at the forefront of hair testing and addressing industry issues with beta-2 agonists,
such as clenbuterol, zilpaterol and ractopamine. AQHA, which recommends a 6-month withdrawal time to avoid a positive hair test for clenbuterol, said they will release specific details regarding hair collection processes and dates with the 2016 Challenge condition book.
November 9
The Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) put all racing regulatory agencies worldwide on notice after the New York Equine Drug Testing Program found the presence of AH-7921 in post-race samples taken from horses that recently
ran at Belmont Park. This is the first time AH-7921 has been detected by a racing regulatory lab. The drug is one of the Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) that continue to emerge in the designer drug market. Research has shown that AH-7921 can be as potent as morphine. NPS drugs are believed to be compounded in order to avoid detection by human testing labs.
November 14
Lone Star Park honored their 2015 meet champions on
closing night of the Texas track’s Fall Quarter Horse Meet
of Champions. Terry Stennett was the leading owner with $553,853 in earnings after winning both the Texas Classic Futurity-G1 and Texas Classic Juvenile; Trey Wood was the leading trainer with $889,270 in earners; and Ricky Ramirez was the leading jockey with $1,227,907 in earnings. Wood and Ramirez teamed up for a first-ever hat trick on closing night winning the Texas Classic Futurity, Derby and Juvenile.
December 5
Ron Smith was elected president of the Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association (FQHRA) at the Board of Directors meeting. The FQHRA issued open letters to horsemen from outgoing president Steve Fisch and new president Smith. Fisch spoke of how the FQHRA has grown and of the great success it has had since he became the association’s first president in 2005, how the FQHRA is a financially sound organization that has defended legitimate horse racing in the state, and that horsemen have been the recipients of $30 million in purse money over the past 7 meets at Hialeah Park. Smith spoke of the bright future racing has in the state and how he will continue to keep Florida a premier racing destination.
December 5
Ronnie Stewart will serve as horsemen’s representative at Hialeah Park. Stewart will live on the grounds and will ensure that horsemen’s issues be resolved in a professional and timely manner.
October November
December
October 31
Trainer Randy Smith (below) established new records at Indiana Grand Racing and Casino by earning 46 wins and purse money of over $1.1 million. Smith, who became the first Quarter Horse trainer ever to top $1 million
in earnings for one season, was presented with his second Leading Quarter Horse Trainer award. He
is now ranked second on the list of leading Quarter Horse trainers at the track. Smith accepted the 2015 Leading Quarter Horse Owner award for Sheri Miller, who won 12 races during the season.
November 27
November 19
Kelly Cathey was named
the executive director
of the Oklahoma Horse
Racing Commission
(OHRC). Cathey, 45,
had been serving as the
commission’s interim
executive director since August when former director Constantino “Tino” Rieger resigned. In 2005, Cathey accepted the position of racing secretary at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Oklahoma, and was later promoted to director of racing. He accepted a job with the OHRC in 2012 as a steward at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, where he worked until accepting the interim director’s position.
Jockey Gilbert Ortiz became one of
only seven jockeys in AQHA history to
win 3,000 races, joining active jockeys
G.R. Carter Jr. (3,804 wins) and Eddie
Garcia (3,101), and retired jockeys
Alvin “Bubba” Brossette (3,631), Danny
Cardoza (3,337), Kenneth Hart (3,199)
and John Creager (3,047). Ortiz, 52,
reached the milestone at Evangeline Downs aboard Baby Separatista during the trials to the Evangeline Downs Futurity. The jockey, who has made 20,035 official starts with earners of more than $33.2 million, was the 2012 Sam Thompson Memorial Jockey Award winner.
November 29
Andy Chavers of Fort
Lupton, Colorado,
passed away. Chavers,
89, was a long time
horseman and promoter
of Quarter Horse racing.
Among the many horses he and his wife, Jean, owned and bred were Champion Bully Bullion, the #2 All-Time siring son of Special Effort, and Champion See Me Gone.
November 19
Thomas “Tommy, TZ” Zarate, 69, passed away in Brazos Valley, Texas. Zarate, who worked in the Quarter Horse racing industry for years, broke and trained many top horses, including World Champion Stolis Winner and Champion Kates Dynasty. Since 1981, Zarate has trained the earners of more than $2.6 million.
44 SPEEDHORSE, January 2016
Richard Chamberlain, QH Journal