Page 68 - Jan2022

202 Y E A R i n 1 REVIEW
MARCH APRIL
March 3
ARIZONA DOWNS PARTNERS WITH COLONIAL
JRP Racing Team Wins 2021 Chariot Racing World Championship
DOWNS OPERATOR
Arizona Downs announced a new partnership with Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E)
for the 2021 summer meet that opened June 1. P2E will consult with Arizona Downs regarding the management of live racing and simulcast operations during the racing season.
March 17
IDAHO SENATE PASSES HORSE RACING BILL
The Idaho Senate passed Senate Bill 1178 to preserve the state’s horse racing industry by a
vote of 26-5. The bill will redistribute a portion
of the revenue the Idaho Racing Commission collects from the pool of advance deposit wagers (ADW) due to an expected $141,000 shortfall for 2021. Currently, the Idaho Racing Commission
is allocated 10% of the ADW money, which is then split between purses (40%), one simulcast
site (30%), racetrack operators (10%), racetracks (5%), breeders (5%), public schools (5%) and the Idaho Racing Commission (5%). SB 1178 would allow the Idaho Racing Commission to retain 10% off the top its 10% share of the ADW before the remainder is split, as well as its 5% split. The bill headed to the House State Affairs Committee.
March 28
2021 CHARIOT RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2020-2021 Chariot Racing World Championship was decided at Star Valley
in Afton, Wyoming. JRP Racing Team won
the World Championship title with horses Namgispoliticaltease (Apollitical Jess-Tease Please, Okey Dokey Dale) and EC Cartel (Tinys First Corona-Twaynas Too, Zevi TB), conditioned by Tony Jenson and driven by Bruce Jensen.
FIESTY ICON:
2020 AJAX QUARTER HORSE OF THE YEAR
Fiesty Icon (Sugarman Perry-Fiesty Spirit, Special Effort) was named the 2020 Ajax Downs Quarter Horse of the Year by the Quarter Racing Owners of Ontario. The 2012 sorrel gelding was bred by Picov Cattle Co. and is owned and trained by Richard W. Kennedy. Fiesty Icon, who was also named Quarter Racing Owners of Ontario 2020 High Point
Aged Horse and 2020 High Point Aged Gelding/ Stallion, won three races in 2020 including the Alex Picov Memorial Championship. In all, the multiple stakes winning gelding has won 20 of 50 starts
with $280,034 in earnings.
JOCKEYS AND JEANS FIRST GREAT AMERICAN STALLION SEASON SALE
The Jockeys And Jeans first annual Great American Stallion Season Sale raised $67,600 for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF). Jockeys And Jeans is an all-volunteer group founded by five former riders in 2014 and has raised $1.6 million for 60 disabled former jockeys who receive a $1,000 monthly stipend from the PDJF.
G.R. CARTER JR. NAMED AQHA RACING COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN
G.R. Carter Jr. was named the new AQHA
Racing Committee Chairman at the 2021 AQHA Convention held March 18-20 in San Antonio, Texas. The 10-time Champion Jockey and AQHA’s all-time leading jockey by money (over $75 million) and wins (3,900), Carter has served on the AQHA Racing Committee and on the board of the Jockeys’ Guild. He also works with Jockeys and Jeans to raise money for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Carter was elected as the new chairman following AQHA Racing Committee Chairman Mark Brown stepping down following his three-year term of service.
April 7
LOUISIANA DOWNS WINNERS
Louisiana Downs ended their 2021 Quarter Horse meet and honored the meet leaders. Rosendo Valdez was the leading owner of the meet, Jose Carrizales won his second consecutive trainer title, and David Alvarez won the leading jockey title.
MAY
May 1
RAMON SANCHEZ MARKS 150TH STAKES
WIN AT LOS AL
Two-time AQHA Champion Jockey Ramon Sanchez became only the second rider to win 150 Quarter Horse stakes races at Los Alamitos after winning the $35,000 Kaweah Bar Handicap-G3 wire-to-wire with Mental Error, who is owned by Bobby Simmons and trained by Paul Jones. In the track’s 71-year history, the only other jockey to reach this milestone is Eddie Garcia with 153 stakes wins. Sanchez also holds the track record for most Quarter Horse wins in a single season with 220 in 2002.
66 SPEEDHORSE January 2022
Scott Conley
Los Alamitos
Hodges Photography
Clive Cohen