Flashin Five Bar and Juan Marquez set the bar high in the first of six trials for the QHRAI Stallion Service Auction Futurity Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville.
The duo turned in the fastest time trial to lead the field of 10 into the $196,736 final set for Sept. 3 at Horseshoe Indianapolis.
Flashin Five Bar got away in mid pack and quickly got his momentum going, taking a short lead before extending to a three-quarter length advantage at the wire in 17.991 seconds in the 350-yard dash. Jupyter and German Rodriguez gave trainer Randy Smith a one-two punch in the race while Runaway Beach Chic and L.D. Martinez finished third.
Flashin Five Bar earned his second win in four starts. The freshman grey gelding is owned by Debbie Smith and Rose Bode and was bred by Sheri Miller. A son of Five Bar Cartel, the Indiana bred has impressive breeding to take him into his racing career.
“He’s a little bit of a hot gelding,” said Smith of Flashin Five Bar. “He’s a half brother to Beach Cartel and he didn’t even race as a two-year-old, so we are pretty proud of him.”
Beach Cartel is among the top five all-time leading Indiana bred horses by earnings. The Escondido Beach gelding is just shy of a half million on his card.
The second fastest trial was awarded to Mary Jane from the Tim Eggleston barn. The chestnut daughter of Five Bar Cartel earned her first career win for jockey Rolando Pina and was in contention for the lead the entire dash, getting the call by a nose over We B Flyin and L.D. Martinez and HF Whoopi and Edgar Diaz in the three-horse photo. The time of the sprint was 18.012.
Mary Jane is owned by Shirley Tresner and was bred by Markum Corner K of Arkansas. It was one of two wins in Futurity trial action for Eggleston, who also saddled Maysa to a win.
Two other trial winners, Winner Spirit, ridden by Juan Marquez, and Flat Out Smoking, ridden by Giovani Vazquez-Gomez, also turned in quick enough times to join the final. Winner Spirit, trained by Randy Smith, was a winner in 18.107 to rank fifth on the leaderboard while Flat Out Smoking, trained by Jessica Vazquez, was ranked eighth with a time of 18.149.
In a unique twist, Lonnie James, ridden by Erik Esqueda, and DNA Mr Independent, ridden by German Rodriguez, finished in a dead heat behind Flat Out Smoking. Their time of 18.179 was the 10th fastest to advance into the final. A shake will be finalized by racing officials early next week to determine which of the two horses will be added to the final list.
Two-year-olds advancing to the QHRAI SSA Futurity Final, with jockey and time, includes: Flashin Five Bar (Juan Marquez, 17.991), Mary Jane (Rolando Pina, 18.012), We B Flyin (L.D. Martinez, 18.013), HF Whoopi (Edgar Diaz, 18.028), Winner Spirit (Juan Marquez, 18.107), Jupyter (German Rodriguez, 18.109), CV Struttinforakiss (Edgar Diaz, 18.140), Flat Out Smoking (Giovani Vazquez-Gomez, 18.149), Runaway Beach Chic (L.D. Martinez, 18.169), and tied for 10th Lonnie James (Erik Esqueda, 18.179) and DNA Mr Independent (German Rodriguez, 18.179).
Out of those potential starters in the final, Randy Smith will saddle four (Flashin Five Bar, Winner Spirit, Jupyter and DNA Mr Independent), Jessica Vazquez will saddle three (HF Whoopi, CV Struttinforakiss and Flat Out Smoking) and Tony Cunningham will saddle two (We B Flyin and Runaway Beach Chic).
A total of 52 horses were entered into the trials for the QHRAI SSA Futurity.
