Page 31 - Speedhorse Canada Spring 2020

Below:
Baxter Andruss and friend Malon Cowgill
at the 2018 Oregon Championship Banquet.
Above:
Baxter (right) with
friend Sig Aumuller
at the 2019 Oregon Championship Banquet.
“Andy is probably one of the most instrumental people in getting Quarter Horse racing accepted by the management at Portland Meadows and many other tracks around the Northwest,”
says Dave Nelson, his friend of
50 years and a 23-year chairman (1973–1996) of the Oregon Quarter Horse Racing Association (OQHRA). “At Portland Meadows [for which Dave was the contract lobbyist from 1976–2006], Andy was one of the leading trainers. I consider him one of the dominant three trainers in the region; he probably won every stakes race around the Northwest.
“If you go back in time,” adds Dave, “there were a lot of little bush tracks around, particularly in Washington: Rimrock near Yakima, Waitsburg, Dayton, Kennewick, Spokane and others. Baxter would
always be there advocating for more Quarter Horse races, and always had a trailer load of horses to run there. And in the old days, after Portland Meadows’ season closed, what used to be Long Acres and is now Emerald Downs season started, then fair season started in Oregon: Union, Grants Pass, Klamath
Falls, Lakeview, Burns, Prineville, and so on. Half those meets have disappeared now, but nonetheless, Andy was always there working to make sure we had Quarter Horse racing on the program.”
At 94, Andy has been a lifelong proponent of not only Northwest Quarter Horse racing, but also
of the OQHRA Oregon-Bred program. In recognition of his efforts, in April 2007 the OQHRA named its Oregon-Bred Juvenile after him: the Baxter Andruss Oregon-Bred Futurity.
Baxter Andruss rallied his resume of traits to promote his childhood love of match racing into an established industry, convincing track secretaries throughout his region to approve Quarter Horse races.