Page 146 - February_2023

144 SPEEDHORSE February 2023
Day, slipping just a few inches with his right front foot with this first stride, then recover- ing quickly to take the lead. It was an almost imperceptible mistake, even to trained observ- ers, but every inch makes a difference. As the ten fastest juveniles in the world came to the finish, Easy Date and jockey Donnie Knight were bearing down on Tiny’s Gay and the
two horses appeared inseparable at the wire. No one, not even the track announcer or the stewards could predict the order of finish until the photo revealed that Easy Date had won by the smallest of margins. In doing so she not only denied Tiny’s Gay a Triple Crown, but she became the first All American Futurity winner to be sired by a winner of the race (Easy Jet).
“I was so proud of her,” recalled James McArthur. “And I was so happy to win the race for the Merrick family. That made it even better.”
But as good as it was that day, it would
get even better in the months to come. After
a short vacation, Easy Date returned to Los Alamitos and experienced a rare defeat (by a nose) by Heza Charger in the El Primero Del Ano Derby. McArthur brought her back at Bay Meadows and won the Golden State Derby and avenging her loss to Heza Charger. Returning to Los Alamitos, Easy Date won her trial to the Los Alamitos Derby but was wiped out at the start of the final, coming in fifth in the only off-the-board finish of her career.
Dismayed but not discouraged, McArthur once again hauled the filly to Ruidoso where she won her trial to the Rainbow Derby, then the Derby itself. Easy Date, in her start prior to the All American Derby trials, had a narrow win
Easy Date winning the 1974 All American Futurity-G1 at Ruidoso Downs.
Easy Date with her winning connections after winning the 1975 Champion of Champions-G1 at Los Alamitos.
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