Page 92 - March_2023

“I thought for a bit I might have made a mistake leaving college because training wasn’t as easy as I expected.” – Jose Flores
Jose, who started training in 1994, had a rough go at the outset. “I thought for a bit I might have made a mistake leaving college because training wasn’t as easy as I expected,” he says.
But he dug in his heels and has reaped the benefits of hard work, determination, and integrity. “He has a very, very good work ethic,” says client Kathy Meneely, who owns S-Quarter K in Kennewick, Washington, with her husband Don, and son Shawn. “He’s at Los Alamitos early in the morning and doesn’t leave until late afternoon after feeding. And he stays in contact with his grooms so if something is going on with one of the horses, he’ll drive the 45 minutes from his home in Pasadena back to Los Alamitos. I know I can trust Jose to do the right thing for the horses.”
The Meneelys consider Jose not just their trainer, but also their advisor, friend, and part of their family. “He listens to my ideas and if we have differences, we shake them
out until our plan pleases us both. And we feel good about Jose’s dad overseeing the operation when Jose has to be gone for a few days,” Kathy says.
“I met Jose when I was first getting
into horse racing,” says client and friend George Seward of Yuma, Colorado, who has partnered with Jose on quite a few runners. “I just think he’s terrific guy. You can tell what kind of person he is by how well his children are doing in school; that’s usually a pretty good reflection of a man.
“When you go to his farm and see how he treats his animals and his help and his family and his friends, you see that continuity in his operation. And he’s a very humble guy, too.”
HIS SUPER ACHIEVERS
The tide turned for Jose when his uncle, Jose Arturo Flores, bought IB Quick, a 1989 gelding by First Down Dash and out of
the Dandy Bar daughter Callie Parker, and turned him over to Jose to train in 1995. IB
Quick went on to a 48-18-11-5 record with $246,747 in earnings.
That year, IB Quick won the Express Stakes and the Pomona Championship Handicap-G2, following at 7 with wins in the Double Bid Handicap-G3, the Vessels Maturity-G1 and the Pomona Championship Handicap-G3. He also ran second in the Go Man Go Handicap-G1 and third in the Los Alamitos Invitational Championship-G1.
IB Quick was Jose’s first charge to win
an AQHA Championship title when he was named the Champion Aged Gelding of 1996.
Jose’s next AQHA Champion, Heza Dasha Fire—in addition to his 2015 Champion of Champions win—ran second in the Champion of Champions in both 2016 and 2017 and qualified in 2018 as well.
All told, the talented Meneely-owned gelding by Walk Thru Fire and out of the Mr Jess Perry daughter Dasha Freda, herself an AQHA Dam of Distinction, won 16 of 25 starts and ran second six times, earning
He has a very, very good work ethic.”
– Kathy Meneely
90 SPEEDHORSE March 2023
Kathy Meneely Champion IB Quick winning the 1996 Vessels Maturity-G1 at Los Alamitos.
Los Alamitos
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