Ridden by Fernando Morin, Tachas Secret (photo) had the far outside post 10 in the Blue River Derby Final. When the gate sprung, she was right with the field but went unnoticed early in the race. Midway through the 400-yard dash, she got the signal from Morin to pick up the tempo. She sprinted away from the field for the win by two lengths.
A four-horse photo brought CV Struttinforakiss and Edgar Diaz into second over Seize Greatness and Shanley Jackson.
“She stood in the gate and broke right with them today,” said Morin through interpretation by trainer Ricardo Martinez. “When I asked her, she responded and just left them. She is an amazing filly.”
Tachas Secret was the favorite of the field, paying $5 for the win. The Habits Secret sophomore is owned by Ricardo Martinez, who also bred the filly. Chris Duke of Duke Racing LLC owns the filly, who is now five for nine in her career.
Martinez is in a unique position as he raced both the sire and dam of Tachas Secret. Habits Secret, a multiple stakes winner for Martinez, retired to stallion duty at Dr. Roger Beam’s Midwest Equine and Veterinary Hospital in Trafalgar, Ind. He’s one of the most underrated stallions in the state.
In 2018, he was the No. 5 freshman-leading Sire in the Nation and has 87 percent winners from his starters. Despite his multiple stakes winning foals, there aren’t many foals by the sire. Habits Secret is a secret weapon for Martinez, who continues to keep a few mares to breed to the stallion.
“I raced this filly’s mother, Sin Tachas Angel, a few times here and she won for me,” said Martinez. “But the important part of her was I knew she was really well bred, so I wanted to keep her as a brood mare. I really didn’t want to sell this filly, but Chris (Duke) called me up and asked several times to buy her. He told me if I’d sell her, I could keep her to train, so it worked out for both of us.”
Tachas Secret more than doubled her career bankroll with the win in the Blue River Derby. She now has nearly $150,000 on her card with five career wins. And Martinez knows there is a bright future ahead for this filly.
“She loves this distance (400 yards),” added Martinez. “Last year at two, there just wasn’t enough distance for her. She is right where she needs to be now.”
Jaguar Rocket Futurity
Undefeated in three starts wasn’t even in the conversation for Trixs Are For Kids this past winter. The striking grey filly trained alongside the others from the Tim Eggleston barn, but as racing season neared, she just kept on excelling and is now a stakes winner for her connections, winning the $140,000 Jaguar Rocket Futurity Final Saturday.
Starting near the center of the track in post four, Trixs Are For Kids (photo) and Rolando Pina used their normal running style and were out of the gate in a flash, taking over the top spot in the 300-yard dash. She was accompanied by the other grey in the field, Eagle Flybye and L.D. Martinez on the outside and HH Express 19 and Francisco Quintero on the inside.
The trio ran side-by-side down the lane. In the final strides, Trixs Are For Kids was able to hit another gear and moved into the lead, winning by one-half length in 15.418 seconds. Eagle Flybye was second in a close photo with stablemate HH Express 19. Both horses are trained by Tony Cunningham.
“She broke hesitating today, but once she got out of the gate, she got into a rhythm and stayed in that same rhythm to the wire,” said Pina, who had three winners on the card. “There were several horses that broke together, and they seemed to all be in the same rhythm. My filly felt comfortable once we got rolling today.”
Trixs Are For Kids was the favorite, paying $6.20 for the win. The One Sweet Jess filly is owned by Brian Langworthy. Although Langworthy and his wife, Teri, have been horse owners since the mid-1990s, the win with Trixs Are For Kids marked their first career stakes win.
“We bought this filly from a recommendation from Tim (Eggleston),” said Langworthy. “We had a horse back in the 90’s and that whetted our appetite for racing. We went a few years without owning horses but the past seven years, we have had one or two each year. Our main focus is barrel racing, but we enjoy having a racehorse, especially one like her.”
Heartland Futurity Trials
A big win for first-time starter Cleave put the freshman on top of the 10 qualifiers headed to the $147,520 Heartland Futurity Final set for Aug. 12. Guided by Germarius “G” O’Neal, the gelding was a winner by a nose in a time of 15.408 seconds, the quickest out of five trials.
Starting from the center of the second Heartland Futurity Trial, Cleave had a battle on his hands from the start. Six horses were bunched together with Cleave making his way in the middle of the pack. As the wire neared, he began to get an advantage on the ones to his outside but there was one left to his inside, Kid Kwik and Diego Villamil Bocanegra, who also had momentum to the finish line.
The two horses hit the wire together and after further review of the photo finish, Cleave had the advantage by a nose. One Relentless Fling and Fernando Morin earned the show spot in another three-horse photo for third.
“I just rode this horse (Cleave) to the gates yesterday,” said O’Neal, who started his riding career last year in Indiana and earned his first win in November. “I learned as much as I could about him and immediately noticed this colt had talent. We were in between a lot of horses, but I think that’s what made him run. He was able to break loose there at the end. I thought we had it, but I looked over and saw Diego (Villamil Bocanegra) right there, so I didn’t know for sure.”
Cleave was making his first career start for trainer Ollie Matthews. Therefore, he wasn’t even in the conversation for wagers in the race, paying $95.20 for the win. The black son of Lota PYC is a homebred from Steve Whiting’s Whiting Ranch of Texas.
Other trial winners in the Heartland Futurity were Brillant Speed (Oscar Macias), Swackhammer (Antonio Rodriguez) Lucky Favorite (Giovani Vazquez-Gomez) and HG Favorite Energy (L.D. Martinez).
The Heartland Futurity will be joined by the Gordon Mobley Futurity for the third all-Quarter Horse racing Day on Aug. 12. The late morning start of 10:45 a.m. will also feature trials for the Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana Stallion Service Auction Futurity and Derby.
Gordon Mobley Futurity
Red Headed Beach blazed down the track Saturday to lead the field of 10 qualifiers into the $188,900 Gordon Mobley Futurity Final.
Red Headed Beach and Rolando Pina began from post one and as the gate sprung open, they were authoritative to take the early lead. The sorrel filly took over and finished ahead of the field by open lengths to record the fastest time of four trials in 15.418 seconds.
Im Jess a Belle and Daniel Martinez finished two lengths back in second over Drag N My Wagon and Jose Ruiz for third.
It was the first career win for Red Headed Beach in her second start. She returned $5.60 for the win to her backers. A homebred by Sheri Miller, Pattie Marshall owns the Escondido Beach freshman. Tim Eggleston trains the youngster.
“The Marshalls bought the mare in foal at one of the Miller sales, and my wife, Keli, actually foaled her out,” explained Eggleston. “She was ornery as a baby, but she has really changed now. She is very professional. She just needed that first race because she was pretty green, but she broke sharp today and raced well.”
Along with getting a temperament change, Red Headed Beach also changed her will to run. Pina, who works for Eggleston, noted the team didn’t always have high hopes for her starting out.
“At first she never showed it (speed) and after I worked her a couple times, I didn’t think she would be a racehorse,” admitted Pina. “But in her first schooling race, it all turned around. She really ran down the track and showed us what she can do. She’s very mellow to work around and to ride. She doesn’t argue.”
Red Headed Beach will be joined by another Eggleston trainee as a trial winner for the Mobley Futurity Final. Pina and Eggleston teamed up for a win from Jess Takin on Cash. The sorrel gelding got out of the gate quickly and led the entire 300 yards for the win in 15.791, fourth fastest for the final. Jess a Riot and Shanley Jackson held their ground inside for second in a close photo with Nachor Secret and Fernando Morin for third.
Jess Takin on Cash is now undefeated in two starts. Paying $3.40 for the win, he is owned by Gregg Farris and was bred by Mark and Teresa Myers.
“We actually bought this horse out of the QHRAI Speed Sale last fall (for $7,000),” said Eggleston. “He was a good looking horse and the Myers (Teresa and Mark) always do a good job raising their horses. He caught my eye because of his color and size, and I thought his value was great. He’s going to be a good horse. Rolando (Pina) never hit him, he just let him run. He’s going to get better, too.”
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