Five trials for the Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana (QHRAI) Stallion Service Auction (SSA) Futurity kicked off the fourth all-Quarter Horse day Saturday at Indiana Grand.
A total of 40 two-year-olds had hopes of advancing to the $191,747 final for the event, but only the top 10 will vie for the final prize.
High Rolling Seize (photo) and Shanley Jackson had the quickest time on the day, turning in an impressive effort in the 350-yard dash. The son of Seize the Win, a former stakes winner at Indiana Grand, closed out the final trial with a one and three-quarter length win in 17.818 seconds to top the qualifiers.
Bye Bye B Train and L.D. Martinez finished second over Jesses Beach and Berkley Packer for third.
High Rolling Seize is owned by breeder Glenn Graff. Matt Frazier, who also trained Seize the Win, serves as the conditioner of the two-year-old gelding. He is now three for five in his brief career, just missing the win by a neck to finish second in the Gordon Mobley Futurity in his last start. High Rolling Seize increased his bankroll to more than $65,000 with his win in the QHRAI SSA Futurity trial.
Another filly that has been outstanding this season is Botticelli Beach, who earned a win in her trial despite a bad start. The Escondido Beach grey filly stumbled badly at the start, but Jose Beltran was able to get her collected and back on track as she strided home late for the win by a head in a three-horse photo. Ravin Stone finished second for jockey Rolando Pina, just a nose ahead of Edgar Diaz and Fabulous Barbara.
Claudio Barraza owns and trains Botticelli Beach, who was purchased from breeder Sheri Miller’s online sale as a weanling. The filly is now on a three-race win streak in her brief career and is already a stakes winner, scoring the victory in the Gordon Mobley Futurity in late July.
“She showed a lot of heart today,” said Barraza. “She had a bad break and went down to her knees and came back to split rivals and get the nod. She always tries.”
Barraza relies on a special friend for Botticelli Beach to keep her race steady at Indiana Grand.
“She has a stall buddy, a sheep named Cirilo,” added Barraza. “They have been together since she was a baby. He keeps her calm and mellow.”
Another impressive winner on the day was Zack James from the Ron Raper Stable. The Ivory James freshman colt, owned and bred by Tina and Kevin Cleary of Crawfordsville, Indiana, was a gate-to-wire winner in his trial. With Shanley Jackson aboard, the colt established the third fastest trial time of the day in 17.913. Count Down and L.D. Martinez finished a half-length back in second over All Star Beach and Rolando Pina for third.
Zack James, the well-built Indiana bred, is known around the Raper barn for his pre-race routine of sleeping most of the morning.
“He was sleeping this morning,” said Raper, who holds the record for most Quarter Horse training titles in Indiana Grand history at eight. “He has been quiet and laid back all day. When it was time to race, he went out and did his job.”
Zack James now has two wins in four starts. He has not finished worse than second in those outings and is closing in on $50,000 in earnings for the Clearly family, who have a deep history with the lineage of Zack James.
“We home raised this colt,” said Kevin Cleary. “We own his mother and we own his grandmother. Plus, we had Leader of the Class, the sire of the grandmother. Even when he was a baby, he (Zack James) slept all the time, so that’s what Ron (Raper) is talking about. He’s just a laid back horse.”
In the first race of the day, Kiss Me At Midnight scored a hard-fought win under the direction of Sammy Mendez. The Kiss My Hocks gelding led the entire way before feeling pressure from his opponents. Kiss Me At Midnight was able to fend off the challengers for the win by a neck over Prize Kiss and L.D. Martinez. BP CK Eagle and Jose Beltran finished third.
Kiss Me At Midnight was a $40,000 purchase by owners Gordon Timm and Debbie Smith at last year’s Heritable Place Fall Mixed Sale. He now has three wins in four starts and has made more than half his purchase prize back with $24,000 in earnings. Randy Smith trains Kiss Me At Midnight.
The final winner in the QHRAI SSA Futurity trials was Sweet Beach, also from the Smith barn. Ridden by Sammy Mendez, the gate-to-wire winner was involved in a four-horse photo, earning the victory by a neck over Twfamousstreakinpie and Jose Ruiz. Zoomen Machine and Jose Beltran finished third.
Owned by Keith Bode, Sweet Beach earned her first career win. She just missed the top 10 to advance to the final.
The entire field for the QHRAI SSA Futurity final, in order of time with jockey, includes: High Rolling Seize (Shanley Jackson, 17.818); Kiss Me At Midnight (Sammy Mendez, 17.871); Zack James (Shanley Jackson, 17.913); Prize Kiss (L.D. Martinez, 17.929); Count Down (L.D. Martinez, 17.982); Botticelli Beach (Jose Beltran, 18.078); Ravin Stone (Rolando Pina, 18.094); Bye Bye B Train (L.D. Martinez, 18.095); Fabulous Barbara (Edgar Diaz, 18.101); and Jesses Beach (Berkley Packer, 18.123).
Trainer Tony Cunningham will saddle four in the final (Prize Kiss, Count Down, Ravin Stone, Bye Bye B Train).
The QHRAI SSA Futurity will join the QHRAI SSA Derby and the Bob Woodward Memorial Classic as features on the Sept. 4 racing program. The card begins at 10 a.m. and will include a pair of trials for the AQHA Bank of America Challenge Championships regional qualifiers. The John Deere Juvenile Challenge and the Q-Racing Distaff Challenge will be included on the card with the top-10 finalists moving to the finals on Sept. 20.
