Feature Mr Jess dies

The great sire, Feature Mr Jess was euthanized on Wednesday because of complications due to laminitis. The sire of the great filly Heartswideopen and many other champions was only 11 years old. This is a great loss for the quarter horse racing industry as he was in the prime of his career as a sire.

A great, fast mare!

A while ago I posted a story on this mare; she was beating the boys then and she still is now! I really hope she wins this race and makes history. From the AQHA racing newsletter:

Champion Heartswideopen will attempt to become American Quarter Horse racing's all-time leading earner in Sunday's 440-yard, $1,065,648 All American Derby (G1). A Feature Mr Jess filly who races for brothers Javier and Manny Rodriguez's La Feliz Montana Ranch at Las Vegas, Heartswideopen brings a lifetime bankroll of $1,714,779 into the All American Derby and stands ninth on the money list, just $411,530 behind all-time leading earner Refrigerator.This year's All American Derby purse is the third-richest in the 35-year history of the stakes. All horses have been assigned to carry 122 pounds. The complete lineup, in post position order:

White Or Wrong (Ricky Ramirez),

First Timber (Abdel Torres),

Wild Six (Alex Baldillez Jr.),

MBN Finest Hour (Cody Jensen),

Captain Courage (G.R. Carter Jr.),

Noconi (Ramon Sanchez),

Possum Fust (Larry Payne),

Decati (Esgar Ramirez),

First Moonflash (Alejandro Medellin),

Heartswideopen (Bonifacio Perez).

Sunday Silence- The Racehorse

Kent Rides a Good Horse

There may be a lot of people soured on horse racing after the Kentucky Derby, and rightly so for them. But there is no denying man's fascination with, and love for, a good horse race. It feeds our competitive nature, and fills our eye with the most beautiful creature in God's creation. We know that the sport will continue, and only hope that Eight Belle's legacy will be sweeping changes to the industry.

Big Brown has captured the hearts of racing fans, including me. Here is a true contender for the fabled and elusive Triple Crown. It is horses like him that keep alive the love of racing at times like this. Here is a magnificent horse, and I for one, will be cheering him stride for stride in the Belmont.

By the way, check out Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog for some great photos of Big Brown being worked on by the farrier.

A Sad Derby Day

The Kentucky Derby was an exciting and well run race, with the favourite, Big Brown, coming from the far outside post # 20 to win by over 4 lengths. But the second place horse, Eight Belles is the one who will be remembered the most for this race. She was the only filly who had the talent to run against the colts, and she literally ran the race of her life. Just after crossing the finish line in second place, she broke both front ankles and had to be euthanized on the track. How heartbreaking! Check Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog (link on my side bar) for more on this story.

Fast Horses

The AQHA named its racing champions last night; and there are a couple of mares who really kicked butt!

BLUES GIRL TOO
WORLD CHAMPION
CHAMPION 3-YEAR-OLD
CHAMPION 3-YEAR-OLD FILLY
Pedigree: Corona Cartel-Run The Dash by Sixarun (TX)2007
Record: 6-3-2-0 $817,662
Stakes Wins: Champion of Champions (G1), Golden State Derby (G1) and Mildred N. Vessels Memorial Handicap (G1)
Owner/Breeder: Lucky Seven Ranch, Prescott Valley, Arizona (Russell and Lisa Stooks)
Trainer: Joe "Bear" Bassett
Jockey: Saul Ramirez
Notes: The 2006 champion 2-year-old and 2-year-old filly, Blues Girl Too set two Los Alamitos track records, one at 400 yards and the other (pending) at 440 yards. Her performance in the Champion of Champions broke Dash For Cash’s 31-year-old track record and pushed her to second, behind only Refrigerator, on the sport’s list of all-time leading horses by money earned. Her lifetime total stands at $2,032,328.

HEARTSWIDEOPEN
CHAMPION 2-YEAR-OLD
CHAMPION 2-YEAR-OLD FILLY
Heartswideopen
Pedigree: Feature Mr Jess-Dashing Phoebe by Dash For Cash (TX)
2007 Record: 7-6-0-0 $1,282,690
Stakes Wins: All American Futurity (G1), Ruidoso Futurity (G1)Owner: La Feliz Montana Ranch LLC (Manuel, Javier and Hermelinda Rodriguez), North Las Vegas, Nevada
Breeder: Kirk Goodfellow, Nacogdoches, Texas
Trainer: Carl Draper
Jockey: Oscar Hernandez
Notes: Heartswideopen also finished sixth in the West Texas Futurity (G1). In August, she became the fastest 2-year-old filly ever at 440 yards, winning her All American Futurity (G1) trial in a sizzling :20.921. She also was the leading money-earning horse of the year.

I have always loved mares the most, and it sure is good to see such outstanding mares beating out the boys in some of their categories!