Page 208 - August 2021

2020 RUIDOSO DOWNS HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY
by Susan Bachelor
Four influential females were recognized on the evening of July 10, when their notable contributions to the history of
Quarter Horse racing qualified them to receive Ruidoso Downs’ highest honor with their induction into the Ruidoso Downs Hall of Fame.
In 1967, Laico Bird became the
first two-year-old filly to be named World Champion. Her All American Futurity win was one of six career stakes victories that resulted in her being the all-time leading money earning Quarter Horse in race training with $435,652
at the time of her retirement. Owner Jimmy R. B. Jones was represented by Benny Irwin and Don Harmon, who accepted the trophy commemorating her outstanding racing career.
Julianna Hawn Holt’s Cross Triangle Ranch near Blanco, Texas, is the home of her elite band of broodmares that Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale buyers have looked
to for 20 years to provide their choice purchases. Among the leading AQHA breeders of racehorses in the nation every year, Julianna Hawn Holt has bred earners of more than $10,000,000. Long time Select Sale manager Lowell Neumeyer and Ben Hudson of Track Magazine accepted the
Hall of Fame Breeders’ award for Julianna, who was unable to attend the ceremony.
In 1996, trainer Donna McArthur
and jockey Tami Purcell teamed up with Dashing Folly and won eight stakes races and that year’s AQHA World Champion title. The following year their combined efforts resulted in Corona Cash winning three Grade 1 futurities in the All American, Ed Burke Memorial, and Governor’s Cup. With the support of Donna and Tami, Corona Cash went on to capture four AQHA Champion awards. These horses are only two in a long list of great race horses who were trained by Donna McArthur and ridden by Tami Purcell. Their stellar success brought them together again when they were inducted to the Ruidoso Downs Hall of Fame. Their families and friends proudly shared this special occasion with Donna McArthur and Tami Purcell-Burklund as they watched highlights of their successful careers presented in the videos produced by Tom Dawson, the Master of Ceremonies.
Jana Trotter, wife of Ruidoso Downs’ owner Johnny Trotter, and Joan Dale Hubbard, wife of the former racetrack and casino owner R. D. Hubbard, presented the trophies to each of the 2020 Hall of Fame inductees.
Benny Irwin
Ethan Linder, Ruidoso Downs General Manager
Tami Purcell Burklund & Donna McArthur
Ben Hudson, Jana Trotter, Lowell Neumeyer and Joan Dale Hubbard
Tom Dawson
206 SPEEDHORSE August 2021