 |
 Qualifier Profiles |
Dateline: 8/22/02
If you've ever wondered what it was like to train, ride or own an All American Futurity winner, here's your chance to ask the people that have done it!
Talk with John Bassett, Danny Cardoza and Gwendolyn Eaves on the AQHA All American Forum beginning Monday, August 26.
Bassett won his first All American Futurity (G1) in 1999 with champion A Delightful Dasher. Winning last year's race with Ausual Suspect made Bassett one of only seven trainers to win it more than once. He will send First To Flash and First Place Queen postward in this year’s Futurity.
Danny Cardoza, the winningest jockey in the history of American Quarter Horse racing, has been a long-time participant in the All American Futurity, with 11 starts as a jockey and 2 starts as a trainer.
Gwendolyn Eaves bought her first broodmare with the proceeds from a winning $1,200 quinella ticket. Thirty years later, horses she has bred have earned more than $4 million and include four champions.
Catch them all in the All American Forum August 26-September 1 only at www.aqhaforums.com.
The All American Futurity will be telecast live on TVG at 5 p.m. Central time, Labor Day, Monday, September 2. Additional coverage of the one-hour special will be available on Fox Sports Net West 2, Rocky Mountain and Arizona. TVG Network is available on Dish Network - Channel 405 and in some select cable markets.
"America’s Horse," AQHA’s weekly television show on Outdoor Life Network, will have a special one-hour program on Tuesday, September 3, dedicated to the All American Futurity at 7 p.m. Central time. OLN is available in most cable markets and on Dish Network 151 / DIRECTV 608.
Information provided is courtesy of The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal, AQHA’s news and information source for American Quarter Horse racing.
The complete list of qualifiers to and history and statistics on the All American Futurity can be found on The Quarter Racing Journal’s All American Futurity Web site.
Tomorrow a look at Silvered Eyes.
FIRST TO FLASH
Brown colt
First Down Dash-Marcy Darling by Six Fortunes
Owner: First To Flash Partnership, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Breeder: L/J Farms Inc., Alexandria, Louisiana
Trainer: John Bassett
Qualifying Jockey: Joe Badilla Jr.
RACE RECORD:
- Four wins in six starts, earnings of $339,651.
- Won All American trial heat 8 by 2 1/2 lengths.
- Recorded the second-fastest qualifying time of :21.132 and a lifetime-best 106 speed index.
- Won the July 21 Rainbow Futurity (G1) at Ruidoso Downs and ran sixth in the April 7 West Texas Futurity (G1) at Sunland Park.
CONNECTIONS:
- Owned by the First To Flash Partnership, which consists of Pierre and Leslie Amestoy of Albuquerque, Henry and Mimi Brown of Purcell, Oklahoma, and Mike Abraham of Bosque, New Mexico. The Amestoys are both former trainers. Pierre currently owns and manages Amestoy Drywall, a construction company. The Amestoys, who raced 2000 All American Futurity (G1) finalist Ima Royal Winner, have two sons, Pierre III and Adam. The Browns own Spear-Cross Land and Livestock. A former Arizona car dealer, Henry, 57, is the chairman of the AQHA Racing Council and partner in Royal Vista Southwest. In his own name, Brown has bred the earners of $2,636,347, including champions Tiny First Effort and Okey Dokey Dale. A real estate investor, Abraham has bred Quarter Horses for 20 consecutive years and owns Enchanted Farms at Pena Blanca, New Mexico. Runners bred in his name have earned more than $2.04 million and include 16 stakes winners.
- Owned and managed by Jon and Donna McPherson of Alexandria, Louisiana, breeder L/J Farms has bred 16 stakes winners, including 2001 Mildred N. Vessels Memorial Handicap (G1) runner-up Linda Te Chick, Grade 3 winner and 2000 All American Futurity finalist Ima Royal Winner, and Grade 2 winners Fortune Flyer and Fortune First. The McPherson's own and stand First To Shine, a Grade 3 winner whose first foals are expected to begin racing in 2003.
- A resident of Dewey, Arizona, John Bassett, 53, won his first All American Futurity (G1) in 1999 with champion A Delightful Dasher. Winning last year's race with Ausual Suspect made Bassett one of only seven trainers to win it more than once. A trainer since 1973, when the death of his father, Joe, forced him to take over the family stable, Bassett has trained the winners of 763 races and the earners of more than $10.2 million. His first stakes winner, Rebel Della, won the 1973 El Primero del Ano Derby at Los Alamitos. Bassett and his wife, Ann, have two daughters, Jamie and Jordan, and one son, Joe.
- Jockey Joe Badilla Jr. won the 1999 All American Futurity with A Delightful Dasher. A native of Tucson, Arizona, the California-based rider has been voted AQHA Champion Jockey in 1995, '98, '99 and 2001. In 1999, he became the first Quarter Horse jockey to ride the earners of more than $3 million in a single season when his mounts earned $3,647,747. Since he began his career in 1990, Badilla's mounts have won 1,617 races and have earned $19,000,845. He currently stands third in the Quarter Horse jockey standings at Los Alamitos.
PEDIGREE NOTES:
- Sire First Down Dash is the sport's all-time leading sire. From 12 crops, the 18-year-old stallion by two-time world champion Dash For Cash has sired 25 champions, 150 stakes winners and the earners of more than $41.4 million. Bred by A.F. Stanley Jr. and B.F. Phillips Jr., First Down Dash raced exclusively in California from 1986-87, winning 13 of 15 races and earning $857,256. He won eight stakes and was named world champion in 1987. Owned by a syndicate, he stands at Vessels Stallion Farm at Bonsall, California.
- Bred by John J. Rylee of Odessa, Texas, dam Marcy Darling won seven of 25 races and earned $40,429. A $3,500 claimer at age 2, she won the Bandera Downs Derby (G2) the following year. Her five starters have earned $512,695 and include Grade 3 winner and 1999 Rainbow Derby (G1) runner-up First To Shine, a full brother to First To Flash.
Article and logo courtesy of AQHA from a press release.
All articles in the series:
- Results Article
- Chart
- Post Positions & Odds
- AB WHAT A RUNNER
- FIRST TO FLASH
- SILVERED EYES
- SPECIAL RED WARRIOR
- FLYS R STREAKIN
- METEORIC
- FIRST PLACE QUEEN
- ANDTHEBEATGOESON
- THE DOWN SIDE
- EYE OPENING EPISODE
