OVER THE HILL...
I remember an extremely humid night on August 6, 2005 in Houston, Texas. I had two horses running that night at Sam Houston Race Park. I had just won the 5th race with a 7 year-old gelding I had claimed at Lone Star Park named "Love Ta Shakem"! Reckless Ryon, a Ronas Ryon gelding that I had claimed at Remington Park was loading into the gates for the 6th race, an allowance race for 3 and up Texas breds going 250 yards. When the gates opened Reckless Ryon broke first and was never headed winning by 1/2 length! This win made Reckless Ryon the winningest Texas bred of all time with an amazing 33 official wins. This win also made Reckless Ryon the oldest Texas bred winner of all time with him being 13 years old at the time of the race. The Old Warrier also has a track record, Texas Claiming Champion title and $145,000 to his credit. This classy old gelding is one of reasons that I do not have a problem claiming a horse that other trainers might consider "Over the Hill". |
RECKLESS RYON, THE CLASSY 13 YEAR-OLD GELDING CARRYING THE BLUE AND WHITE COLORS FOR DR. C.L. ANDERSON GETS HIS 33RD OFFICIAL WIN AT SAM HOUSTON RACE PARK!
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I remember a cold morning on January 13, 1996 at Trinity Meadows Race Track. I was stabled there at the time as well as trainer Don Mourning. I was claiming a lot of horses and I had already filled out a claim form on a horse that Don was running that day for a $6,250.00 price tag. I had seen the horse run and convinced my good friend and client Greg Sherrod that this horse would be a good investment. Anyway, word got back to Don of my intentions and he walked over to my barn and asked me not to claim his horse. Well, he didn't have to walk very far because our barns were right across form each other. Don and I were friends and still are and I had no problem tearing up my claim ticket. Don said thanks, and I said your welcome and the horse went on to win the race, running the fastest time of the day. The horses name was SLM Big Daddy and he would go on to win 24 races and earn $1,013,550.00. He won 14 stakes including 2 Champion of Champions and was named World Champion Running Horse 2 years in a row. SLM Big Daddy would have been the best claim ever in the history of the
sport, but like I said, Don
and I are still friends and I have no regrets for making the decision to cancel the claim.
The Making Of A Leading Owner...
I remember a sunny day in April in 1998 The race track was Manor Downs just outside of Austin,  Texas. I had just won the eighth race on the ten-race program, a $6,250.00 claiming race for my fourth win of the day. The horses name was Delivery Man. He was ridden by Saul Ramirez Jr. and owned by Raul Rubalcava. I had claimed this horse a few months earlier for Raul at a price of $3,200.00. What makes this race so significant was the fact that this win cinched Rubalcava the leading owner award at Manor Downs, a title that has always been hard to win. Rubalcava would also receive runner-up for leading owner at Lone Star Park, losing the leading owner title by one win to the always-tough Gerald Dewitt. What makes this achievement so impressive is the fact that Rubalcava had accomplished all of this in his first full year as an owner. I am proud of the fact that all of this was accomplished with eight horses that I claimed and trained for Rubalcava at claiming prices from $2,500 to $5,000, with the exception of Stormy Chevalt and Sharber. I claimed Stormy for $10,000 at Lone Star Park and purchased Sharber for $6,000 at the Heritage Sale in Oklahoma City. At the time that was a lot of money for Raul to spend on a racehorse but the 2 horses earned over $170,000.00 and proved to be a good investment.
Hookin N Lookin Finally Wins...
I remember a day in October in 1993, I was training horses at my home base at Trinity Meadows and I just won a race with a classy little Hooked On Cash filly named Hookin N Lookin. Alex Baldillez was the rider and she was owned by Charles Ogle of Weatherford, Texas. I had won many races at this track for Charles and he was in every win picture. But that was not the case on this day. Charles told me that he was not coming to watch his filly run because he already knew she was going to run second anyway. Charles had good reason to believe this to be true because the filly had already run eight seconds (7 consecutively) and had not won a race. I am not sure but I think she must have set some kind of record for running seconds. I would win a lot more races for Charles Ogle but I will always remember Hookin N Lookin breaking her maiden that day at Trinity Meadows in Weatherford Texas.
The Match Race at Lone Star Park...
I remember a chilly night in November in 1997. The location was Lone Star Park and I was about to be a part of history at the race track in Grand Prairie, Texas. The horses were loading into the gates for the fifth race on the program but this was no ordinary race. This was the first and last match race (a race between two horses) in the history of the track. I saddled Cars Print for owner Raul Rubalcalva and had Juan Vazquez doing the riding, breaking from gate number five. Leading rider Jackie Martin was the jockey on the undefeated match horse Medjool coming out of gate number six. When the race was over we had made history by winning the first and only match race at Lone Star Park.
1000 Yards, No Problem...
I remember a hot day in Oklahoma City in 1993. I was running horses at Remington Park, one of the nicest horse racing facilities in the country. Remington Park was putting on a special event called the MCI Distance Series matching Quarter Horses against Thoroughbreds at three different distances: 660, 870 & 1000 yards, with two weeks in between each race, I had already won the first two legs of the event with a gutsy little Quarter Horse named Cash Twelve and the horses were loading into the gates for the 1000 yard event. I had told Jesse Sauceda, Cash Twelve's regular rider to not try and pace Cash but instead, to open up as big a lead as he could on the backside and try to hold them off. This was a big request because there were two 1000 yard specialists in the race named Silver Studded and Will Bill Will. When the gates opened Cash Twelve opened up a 10 ½ length lead on the backside and held on to win by a little daylight. Cash Twelve, the big hearted little horse that owner Louis Howard had purchased for $500.00 at a cattle sale had just won all 3 legs of the MCI Distance Series. I would use this same strategy to win Cash Twelve's  next race, a 1000 yard event at Trinity Meadows, called the Shu Fly Handicap, with Cash Twelve being the only Quarter Horse in the race. I was only able to train Cash Twelve for 2 years due to an unfortunate injury. Cash is buried at my ranch in North Richland Hills, Texas under the biggest oak tree on the place.
Christmas Eve Horse Deal.
I remember an unusually warm Christmas Eve day in 1988. My family and I were all together enjoying the holiday when I noticed a truck and trailer pulling into the drive heading towards my barn. I had run a little black Kiptys Charger gelding at Ross Downs a week earlier that had apparently caught the eye of Jim Helzer. Jim had called the night before and said that he was interested in buying the colt and would like to come out and take a look at him. Mr. Helzer was a well known Texas race horse owner at the time but nothing compared to the level of his horse business today. I met Jim at the barn and put the horse on the cross ties for him to inspect. He asked to see the horse galloped on my training track and because there was no rider available (it was Christmas Eve) I had to take him. I galloped the horse about a ½ mile and Jim waved me back and said that would be fine. As we were watching the horse cool off on the walker, Jim said I'll take him! I had purchased the horse from John Buchanan two months earlier for $1,200.00 so the $25,000.00 I received from Mr. Helzer was a pretty good profit. The horses name was Replacement Parts and he would win his first official race three months later by 2½ lengths running a 98 Speed Index. He was then sent to Ruidoso where he qualified for the Grade I Kansas Futurity, running fifth in the finals respectively. He then qualified for the Rainbow Futurity, and came back to place third in the finals in that prestigious Grade I event. He earned just under $75,000.00 that summer in Ruidoso and I was told he was sold and went to Mexico to match race. Jim since, has owned some of the truly great super stars in the sport such as two time World Champion, Refrigerator. Today Jim Helzer (JEH) is one of the biggest names in the industry, but I saw Jim the other day at Lone Star Park and he said he still remembered that Christmas Eve and purchasing that little black gelding named Replacement Parts. |
