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SPEEDLINES
Special Effort wins the 1981 All American Futurity.
SPECIAL EFFORT WINS THE 1981 ALL AMERICAN FUTURITY (440 YARDS)
The 1981 All American Futurity has proven to be a milestone in Quarter Horse racing. Special Effort set his name in stone
as the first horse to win the Ruidoso All American Triple Crown--the Kansas Futurity, the Rainbow Futurity and the All American Futurity, and to this day no horse has ever put their name on that stone.
Special Effort was bred by Allen Moehrig of Seguin, Texas. He was sired by Raise Your Glass and out of Go Effortlessly by Double Devil. Allen Taylor and L. E. Willis were the owners when Special Effort made his first start in a maiden race that he won by 1 1/2-lengths at La Bahia Downs in March 1981.
His next start came in the trials for
the Kansas Futurity, a race he won by 3 3/4-lengths for the fastest qualifying time. Then the life of Special Effort had a big change. He was purchased by Dan and Jolene Urschel of Canadian, Texas, for $1 million. Special Effort rewarded them with a win in the Kansas Futurity. The next step was the Rainbow Futurity trials, but this time he had to survive two trials and he won them both. He won the first one by 2 1/4-lengths and the second by 3 3/4-lengths. He then won the Rainbow final by 1 1/2-lengths over Winkum in second and Summer Encounter in third.
The All American Futurity trials were the next two starts and wins for Special Effort. The 10 fastest times from the second set of trials would qualify for the finals. Special Effort set the fastest qualifying time of :21.78. Viva El Seis was the second fastest qualifier with :21.84. The third fastest qualifier Classy Native in :21.89 was second to Special Effort in his trial. Exclusive Roula was the third
fastest qualifier with a time of :22.05. Go For Bugs had a time of :22.07, which was the fifth fastest time. Greybon was second in Viva El Seis’ trial and his time was :22.10 for the sixth fastest time. Cute Investment was second in Go For Bugs’ trial and that was the seventh fastest time. Summer Encounter had the eighth fastest time, with Spectular Rhythm having a time of :22.25 for the ninth fastest time. Arrows Request had a time of :22.26
for the tenth fastest time. When we look at Summer Encounter, Greybon and Go For Bugs, we see they all ran against Special Effort in the Kansas and/or the Rainbow Futurities.
When the gates opened for the All American Futurity finals, there were two things that could have prevented Special Effort’s bid for the Triple Crown. The first was when Cute Investment went out to bump into Exclusive Roula, who bumped into Special Effort, who luckily brushed it off and headed to the finish line. The other factor was the muddy track. But Special Effort won the race by 3 1/4-lengths despite the bump and the muddy track. His time of :21.69 was the second fastest 440 for that year and earned him a 104 speed index. He was followed by Go For Bugs in second and Classy Native in third. Cute Investment was fourth and Arrows Request fifth. The rest of the field came home in the following order: Viva El Seis, Spectular Rhythm, Exclusive Roula, Greybon and Summer Encounter. Summer Encounter ran to the inside rail and this caused her to drop out of contention.
Special Effort earned $528,000 for his All American win. He was the first to win the All American Triple Crown that was labeled
the Tres Corona in 1981. His record for the year was nine wins in nine starts and earnings of $1,026,721. He was awarded the AQHA World Championship as well as the AQHA Champion Two Year Old and the AQHA Champion Two-Year-Old Colt titles.
The three-year-old racing campaign for Special Effort held high hopes that he could win the Ruidoso Derby Triple Crown, and he won the 1982 Kansas Derby to start it off. Then came the Rainbow Derby trials, and for the first time Special Effort won his trial but failed to qualify for the finals. He qualifed for the Rainbow Consolation, but was scratched from that race to prepare for the All American Derby.
Special Effort had a two month layoff before the All American Derby trials. He won his trial, qualifying for the finals with the fourth fastest time. He faced a strong field in the Derby, including the stablemates 1980 AQHA Champion Two-Year-Old Filly Dashingly and Justanold Love. When the race started, Dashingly got a 2-length lead on Special Effort and he was not able to pass her. But she was also beaten, as Justanold Love crossed the finish line ahead of both of them.
Special Effort ended his racing career with the third in the All American Derby. He retired as the 1982 AQHA Champion Three- Year-Old Colt. His career record was 13 wins in 14 starts and earnings of $1,219,948.
Just before the All American Futurity, Special Effort was syndicated for his breeding rights for $10,000,000. He went on to sire foals that earned over $19.9 million with 1,048 ROM and 75 stakes winners. This includes a number of AQHA Champions such
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