Page 158 - August 2021

RACING NEWS
“Forty yards to the finish line, I thought we were beat. I knew he was making up ground and could tell he needed a little more.”
Jess Savin Candy was making only his fourth lifetime start and had never com- peted on an off track. Streelman wondered if the gelding would handle the surface. As it turned out, Jess Savin Candy didn’t relish the mud, but he’s so talented that he over- came it anyway.
“When we broke I could tell that he really wasn’t grabbing the surface well,” said jockey Francisco Calderon. “He was slipping and slid- ing, and I had to urge him forward just enough to keep him trying.”
With only 400 yards to get the job done, Jess Savin Candy found a way to get his feet under him and start powering down on the
leaders. He surged forward as one of seven run- ners separated by necks and noses.
“About 150 yards or so out, he’s to the mid- dle or the back of the pack,” said Streelman. “I’m thinking this isn’t how he runs. And then all of a sudden he just picked it up and in the last 50 yards just took off, caught everybody, and won by a fraction.”
The photo showed Jess Savin Candy the winner by a nose. He stopped the timer in :19.600 for a 97 speed index.
“I couldn’t tell in real time whether he’d won or not,” said Streelman.
Conditioner John Stinebaugh was also concerned, saying, “Forty yards to the finish
line, I thought we were beat. I knew he was making up ground and could tell he needed a little more.”
But Jess Savin Candy got to the finish line in time. And even better, Streelman noted that after they celebrated and went back to the barn, Jess Savin Candy “was just lollygagging around and looked like he could go right out and do it again.”
In addition to Special Effort, five other horses have been in Jess Savin Candy’s posi- tion to win the All American Triple Crown. Tiny’s Gay in 1974, Deceptively in 1992, Treacherously in 1993, Leading Spirit in 2005, and Eagle Jazz in 2017. All won the first
James, Zach, John, Wyatt and Joe Stinebaugh and John Lankford.
156 SPEEDHORSE August 2021