Page 169 - August 2021

The gelding has had to deal with his fair share of adversity.
“As a yearling, we took him to Heath Taylor and Heath was saying he had a lot of potential,” Cervantes said. “We worked him in Louisiana. He did good work down there.”
JC Wild King didn’t fire in his first race, or in his second. Then an issue was detected that required surgery. After recovering, the sorrel gelding came back to Oklahoma and found success in the Juvenile Challenge.
Then, earlier this year, more adversity occurred when he developed ulcers.
JC Wild King’s first race back from the ulcers was his July 10 Speedhorse Derby trial, and he won wire-to-wire by 1-length with a :17.585 clocking that topped the qualifying ladder. That made JC Wild King the post-time favorite, at just under 5-2 odds.
“It looked like he came back fine in the tri- als for Speedhorse,” Cervantes said. “Saturday, he really showed the people he was back with how he runs.”
The gelding definitely looked sharp, break- ing on top from the No. 7 hole and leading at every call of the 350 yards. JC Wild King was in front by a head at the first call, widened the gap to a 1/2-length going into the stretch, and held on to win by that same margin. The chart comments read: sharp, strait, speedy.
Fidencio Jimenez trains JC Wild King, who finished the derby in :17.718 for a 95 speed index while running into a 6 mph headwind. James Flores did the riding.
“The horse couldn’t have won without them,” Cervantes said. “They did all the work and it paid out,” adding that Jimenez and JC Wild King “make a great team.”
Cervantes says that he and his father, Jose Sr., usually have five or six broodmares at any one time. One of them, Oh Cherokee Rose, is JC Wild King’s dam – a stakes winning 2005 mare, who also finished third in the 2007 running of the Remington Park Futurity-G1. JC Wild King is a full brother to JC Wild Rose, another stakes win- ner with a bankroll of almost $125,000.
“We try to breed with the top stallions every year,” Cervantes said. “It’s just me and my dad. Sometimes it works out for us and sometimes
it doesn’t.”
If it continues working out for JC
Wild King, it could mean another trip to Albuquerque. He’s paid into the Challenge at Will Rogers Downs.
BP Primetime (Im A Fancy PYC-BP Southern Mariah) made a solid run to second- place honors for HE Racing LLC. The Buddy Clay trainee had Jose Meza in the irons.
Spotty Politics (Apollitical Blood-Sunspot Babie) hit the board in third place for owner/ trainer Matthew Eck. Daniel Torres drew the riding assignment.
Coyotee Dale (Jess Lips-Docs Dusty Dale), Political Babbel (Apollitical Blood-Shanachee), MH Apollitical Spy (Apollitical Blood-Corona Spy), Isa Super Freak (Ivan James-Isa Precious Patriot), Willie McBride (Apollitical Blood- Shanachee) and Cindydoesitagain (Capo De Capi-Easydoesitcindy) completed the field. Cashmere And Beer scratched.
RACING NEWS
JC Wild King’s winning connections include owner/breeder Jose Cervantes, trainer Fidencio Jimenez and jockey James Flores.
James Flores returns to the winner’s circle.
SPEEDHORSE August 2021 167
Jana Thomason, Speedhorse Jana Thomason, Speedhorse