Page 52 - September 2022

SPEEDLINES
AB What A Runner Wins The 2002 All American Futurity (440 Yards)
AB What A Runner winning the 2002 All American Futurity.
Championship Classic. His time was :21.02 for the 440 yard race. Possumjet, the 1972 All American Futurity winner was second in this famous race.
Bret Vickery had this to say about his filly’s record breaking performance in the trials, “From the first time we worked
the filly, we were impressed. We knew we had a runner, but at the All American, they’re all runners. The time amazed and impressed me. You can be confident, but you can’t ever expect one to run that fast.”
AB What A Runner had a New Track Record, so where was the competition for the finals? Turf writer Jeremy Plonk from ESPN.com gives us an interesting look
at the New Track Record and where the competition would come from. The 2002 All American trials had 217 entries, and this brought the all time total number of trial runners to 8,094. This was the fastest All American trial ever. Then, he added this about the 2002 qualifiers. He noted that Grand Coeur in a time of :21.626 was the fastest qualifier in the 2001 trials for the All American and that time would not have been fast enough to even make the consolation for 2002. Perfect Victory set the all-time fastest qualifying time for the All American trials in 1992 when he covered the distance in a time of :21.30. The six fastest qualifiers to the 2002 All American all ran a time faster than that, including AB What A Runner (:20.99), First To Flash (:21.13), Silvered Eyes (:21.190), Special Red Warrior (:21.20), Flys R Streakin (21.20) and Meteoric (:21.262). The other qualifiers were
When AB What A Runner won the 2002 All American Futurity it was big news, but as you will see her trial win seems to have made an even bigger impact on the news. But then she won the finals in what can be termed a nail biter that came down to the finish line and a nose finish.
AB What A Runner was bred by the Allred Brothers in Arizona. The Allred Brothers were noted for their good racehorses. The sire of AB What A Runner was the 1991 All American Futurity winner Royal Quick Dash. Be So Merry by Streakin Six was her dam and she is one of a line of mares that served in their broodmare band. Be So Merry’s dam Merry For Cash, her second dam Merry Mayor and her third dam Ill Be Merry were all bred by the Allred Brothers. Ill Be Merry was sired by the Allred’s foundation
sire Barjo, and she was
out of Ill Do It Dot by Illdoit, who was out of Dotty Kay by Clabber.
Dennis and Kris Hill of Blackfoot, Idaho, bought AB What A Runner as yearling. They sent her to Bret Vickery to train and she made her first out at Les Bois Park in Boise, Idaho. She went 350 yards in :16.630 and won the race by 5 lengths. She ran this race on May 26th in her only start before the trials on August 15th for the All American Futurity. Vickery took her to the mountain track to prep for the All American.
AB What A Runner ran in the 10th of 23 trials. She won the trial with a time
of :20.993 for the 440 yards. This is the fastest time ever recorded in the trials
for the All American Futurity. She did
it by establishing a New Track Record. World Champion Truckle Feature set
his record 29 years earlier in the World’s
Allred Brothers, breeder of AB What A Runner.
50 SPEEDHORSE September 2022
AB What A Runner’s owners
Dennie & Kris Hill and trainer Brett Vickery.
© Speedhorse Archives
© Speedhorse Archives