WTBOA Sales Graduates in the News

   REV Racing's Better to Be Lucky added her second 2014 win after she took an allowance/$20,000optional claiming race at Turf Paradise on March 1. Trained by Frank Lucarelli, it was the fourth win for the five-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Limehouse-Hey Seattle, by Seattle Slew, who has earned $47,261.

   Three-year-old Find Your Spot, a daughter of 2013 Washington leading freshman sire Nationhood, took an allowance$80,000 optional claiming race by 1 1/4 lengths at Santa Anita on February 28. The filly out of stakes winner Sudden Departure, by Demons Begone, was bred in Washington by Rick and Debbie Pabst, who stand her sire at their Blue Ribbon Farm. Owned by Where We At and trained by Jim Penney, Find Your Spot improved her record to 3-1-2 from six outings and has earned $61,925.

   Justa Gusta, a  2010 gelding by Matty G out of Popcorn Mike, by Lord Carson, bred in Washington by Ron Maus, earned his fourth placement in his four starts at Santa Anita in 2014 after he ran second in a seven-furlong $16,000 claimer on March 2 raising his total earnings to $71,601.

   Fred and Cindy Desimone, Glyn C. Kelly and Anne MacLennon's three-year-old Chilcotin won her second race in 2014 on March 6 at Golden Gate Fields. The daughter of Cahill Road-Courtroom Charmer, by Tribunal, who is a full sister to $59,894 stakes-placed Cariboo Road, was bred in Washington by Ron Crockett Inc. and Mr. and Mrs. William T. Griffin. Chilcotin improved her record to 2-2-0 from five starts after the Dan Markle-trained filly won the six-furlong race, in which she was claimed for $12,500 by trainer O. J. Jauregui for Seamist Racing LLC, the same duo who claimed and were successful with 2013 Washington most improved plater Skyribbon.

   Seven-year-old Appealing Resume, who has already won two races in 2014 and been haltered for $25,000 each time, finished third in an allowance/$40,000 optional claiming race and was tagged by trainer Paul G. Aguirre for Dave Williams. Bred in Kentucky by Northwest Farms LLC, the daughter of Successful Appeal-Strong Credentials, by Carson City, has won 14 races and earned $244,567.

   Five-year-old Keepnosecrets took his ninth lifetime win in a 1,000-yard Quarter Horse allowance test at Turf Paradise on March 12. Bred in California by Dr. Jack and Claire Lein's Willow Creek Farm Inc., the gelded son of Sea of Secrets-Choice Plan, by Knights Choice, has earned $39,408.

   Also on March 12, in his first start back since running second in the September 2010 Chinook Pass Stakes, Kevin Mertens-owned and -trained Wheelhouse came from well off the pace to take a 6 1/2-furlong allowance test by 1 1/2 lengths over ten other runners at Turf Paradise. Bred in Washington by Barbara Ratcliff's Coal Creek Farm, the now seven-year-old gelded son of Limehouse-Annie's Halo, by Sunny's Halo, has two wins and two seconds from four lifetime starts and has earned $23,811.

Champion Shared Belief Off Derby Trail

Barretts March Selected Two-year-old in Training Sale

2013 Oregon Champions

   The Oregon Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (OTOBA) held their annual Awards Banquet of Champions on Saturday, March 8, 2014 at Spirit Mountain Casino with nearly 100 people in attendance.

   The theme of the event, "The Year of the Horse," was carried out with Chinese decorations, commemorative wine glasses and specially made fortune cookies with horse-related messages.  New for this year were a silent auction and two People's Choice awards  Also during the evening, a special presentation was made to long-time OTOBA board member and past president Gay Welliver in appreciation for her many years of  service and dedication to the OTOBA and the racing community.

   2013 horse of the year honors went to Hurliman Enterprises LLC's Maddie's Gold, who also was named champion two-year-old colt or gelding. Bred in the name of George Hurliman, the son of Harbor the Gold out of four-time Oregon champion Moonlit Maddie, by Abstract, won a trio of races, including the Osiris Stakes at Assiniboia Downs and the Bill Wineberg Stakes at Portland Meadows. In his other two starts he finished second in both the Winnipeg Futurity and Graduation Stakes at the Canadian track and earned a total of $48,488. He was trained by Rolland Fergason in Canada and Barbara Fergason in Oregon.

   The champion juvenile filly was Bob and Pat Cosgrove's Jet Set Kitten, who in three starts, won the Catalina Harbor and Janet Wineberg Stakes at Portland and finished out the year with a third place finish in the Arizona Juvenile Filly Stakes at Turf Paradise on December 28. Bred by Patrick Cosgrove and trained by Jonathan Nance, the daughter of Jet West-Karlee's Kitten, by Pioneering, earned $20,287.

   Though he never ran in stakes company, Dr. Rodney Orr's homebred Boyett won a maiden special weight race by nearly four lengths at Emerald Downs in his first start and finished off his season with a win in a $62,500 claiming event and second in a turf allowance, both at Betfair Hollywood Park. From eight starts the gelded son of Sharp Humor-Bella Cantu, by War Chant, who was trained in Washington by Chris Stenslie and in California by Mark Glatt, had a record of 2-2-2 with earnings of $62,146. Boyett is one of two year-end champions bred by Orr, as his She's a Tiger earned the Eclipse Award as champion two-year-old filly and was just recently named champion Kentucky-bred two-year-old filly.

   Though 2012 Oregon horse of the year Calypsonoted didn't win in 2013, the filly earned the top three-year-old filly spot for her breeder-owner-trainer Eric S. Jensen by finishing second in all four of her starts last year. After being runner-up in two Portland allowance tests, the daughter of Harbor the Gold-Flying Memo, by Memo (Chi), finished second by a head against older male runners behind older male champion Midda's Gold Touch in the Lethal Grande Sprint Championship, and then lost by another head to Society Girl in the Oregon Stallion Stakes. Calypsonoted earned $9,500 last year.

   Midda's Gold Touch, who also raced for Hurliman Enterprises LLC, earned his second consecutive older gelding title after putting in back-to-back wins in his final two starts of the year. The then five-year-old son of Harbor the Gold-Ashleys Attitude, by Jazzing Around, won both an allowance and the Lethal Grande Sprint Championship over Calypsonoted. In his 11 outings last year, Midda's Gold Touch, who was bred by Bar C Racing Stables Inc. and trained by Debora Fergason, had a record of 2-1-3 and earnings of $21,472.

   Rancho Viejo and Jerry Carmody-raced Kenzie Carolina stymied Canadian-raced Mountain Echo's attempt to be named older mare champion for the fifth consecutive time with her four wins last year at Emerald Downs and Portland Meadows. Bred by Dr. and Mrs. Jack Root Jr., the then four-year-old daughter of Baquero-Icicle Angel, by La Saboteur, won a mile race at the Washington track and was claimed from Rancho Viejo and Robert Pavalunas for $2,500 by Nick Lowe. Two races later Rancho Viejo and Carmody claimed her back for $5,000 out of a winning effort. Now back in the barn of Rigoberto Velasquez, Kenzie Carolina finished the year with two Portland victories with a 3 1/2-length tally in a six-furlong handicap and a seven-length win in a six-panel allowance. In ten starts, the filly had a record of 4-2-1 and earnings of $19,911.

   Dave and Patty Runyon's Risky Orbit, a 2008 gelding by Unbridled's Comet-Anima Mundi (Ire), by Namaqualand, bred by Carol Duby and trained by Dave Runyon, was named 2013 Oregon Summer Fair male champion.

    Don Young-owned and -trained Shame On Rosie, a 2007 mare by Seattle Shamus-Yorkist Rose, by Irish Tower, bred by the Roots, is the 2013 Oregon Summer Fair distaff champion.

    Now 16-year-old Moonlit Maddie, who won or placed in a dozen stakes and earned $207,358, was voted 2013 broodmare of the year. The dam of Maddie's Gold and two other winners from her first four foals, Moonlit Maddie is owned by Debora Fergason, George Hurliman and Ashfault Farm.

    For the fifth consecutive year Pam and Neal Christopherson's Harbor the Gold was lauded as sire of the year. Last year, the now 13-year-old stallion, who holds court at the Christopherson's Bar C Racing Stables in Hermiston, was represented by 43 winners and the earners of $765,301. In addition to 2013 Oregon champions Maddie's Gold, Calypsonoted and Midda's Gold Touch, the son of Seeking the Gold was also had 2013 Washington champions Del Rio Harbor (his leading earner with $108,293) and Music of My Soul. Harbor the Gold has now sired 11 Oregon or Washington champions from his first six crops, including the last three Oregon horses of the year, who have earned 24 titles between them.

    Bruno Maelfeyt was named trainer of the year for Oregon-bred runners,

George Hurliman, with two 2013 champions, was honored as breeder of the year and he and his wife Rose were named 2013 Oregon TOBA Award winners.

   The first Oregon People's Choice Awards went to male runner Maddie's Gold and it was a tie between Jet Set Kitten and Kenzie Carolina for female honors.

Anne Von Rosen Goes Down in Serious Spill at Turf Paradise

News from The Jockey Club

2014 Fact Book, State Fact Books Available on The Jockey Club Website

   The Jockey Club announced on March 13 that the 2014 edition of the Fact Book is available in the resources section of its website at jockeyclub.com.

   The online Fact Book is a statistical and informational guide to Thoroughbred breeding, racing and auction sales in North America. It also features a directory of state, national and international organizations.

   Links to the breeding statistics report that is released by The Jockey Club each September and the report of mares bred information that is published by The Jockey Club each October can now be found in the breeding section of the Fact Book.

   The 2014 editions of State Fact Books, which feature detailed breeding, racing and auction sales information specific to numerous states and Canadian provinces, are also available on The Jockey Club website. The State Fact Books are updated monthly.

In Memoriam

Marguerite Crawford

   Marguerite Crawford, died on March 2, 2014, in a Spokane Valley care center, almost six months past her 100th birthday.

   A native of Ruston, Louisiana, Marguerite Anderson was born September 11, 1913, the oldest of eight children in a family distinguished by longevity. Almost always, horses were part of her life. Early in the Great Depression, after graduating from high school in nearby Shreveport, she became a nurse. Then she headed west to San Diego, lured by stories of plentiful work. She went to buy a car and wound up marrying the salesman, a tall, lanky, fellow Southerner named Tom Crawford.

   Before the end of World War II, the couple had moved to Spokane, where he and Harold McCollum acquired a Ford dealership. Soon, Tom and Marguerite owned a few race horses, a mare and a small ranch in Veradale.

   While Tom became a key figure among area car dealers and supervised the breeding and training of their horses, she studied bloodlines, pondered appropriate names and helped raise the babies. Standout Thoroughbreds like Aryess, Cold Bay and Lea Rover carried their fuchsia silks. They had a daughter, Barbara Jo, and named a foal after her.

    Barbara Jo, the horse, and her half-sister, Mercy Me, became stakes-winners. Fur Piece, another filly from their dam, didn't race. But, in 1965, she produced a big-chested bay colt. The Crawfords named him Turbulator after the hydro-therapy tubs used on sore-legged horses.

   After recovering from a crippling knee injury, Turbulator began the 1969 Playfair season as a maiden and won seven consecutive races. In 1970, he became the only runner to earn horse of the meeting honors at all three of than major Washington tracks tracks - Playfair, Longacres and Yakima Meadows. He set a world record and drew huge crowds. Fans wore buttons proclaiming "I Love Tubby!" Turbulator was elected to the Washington Racing Hall of Fame in 2004.

   Always a gracious Southerner, Marguerite, was alternately Turbulator's den mother, stable attendant, nursemaid and leader of his rooting section, did all of that and more without raising her voice.

   Tom Crawford died of a heart attack on February 27, 1972.

   Marguerite Crawford always dressed for the occasions and remembered every moment. She recalled turning 90 on the day of the World Trade Center attacks. She spent part of her 100th birthday celebration telling Sunday School kids about her childhood. And, although nearly blind and slowed by heart problems, her memory remained sharp, and her voice was strong.

   "I've had an interesting life and some adventures," she said in 2012. "I guess God wants some people to have interesting lives, and I've been very fortunate. It's a wonderful thing that I still have my mind and my memories and the chance to talk about them."

   She is survived by her daughter, Barbara (Eric) Place; and granddaughter, Jenna, a Central Valley High School student.

  Taken from a story written by Jim Price published in The Spokesman-Review.

Dr. Gary Lloyd Schmid

   Gary Schmid, 71, of Ellensburg, passed away after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. He was born on April 19, 1942, in Nampa, Idaho, to Lloyd and Phoebe Schmid.

    Gary received his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Washington State University in 1966 after his undergrad at Seattle Pacific University. Shortly after graduating WSU, he partnered with Dr. Don Mee at the Valley Veterinary Hospital in Ellensburg, which came under his ownership for much of the 37 years he practiced veterinary medicine. Gary was a well-respected equine reproduction specialist and served many Thoroughbred breeding farms in Central Washington
   Although he enjoyed working with all animals, Gary had a passion for horses that lead to a hobby of breeding and racing Thoroughbreds. Even in retirement, he enjoyed caring for his racehorses and helping others in the breeding process. But his greatest joy was seeing his own horses cross the finish line which made all his hard work worthwhile.

   He also felt a strong emotional connection and sense of pride and accomplishment whenever a horse ran that came from a mare that he had worked on...especially if the horse won and he could join the owner in the winner's circle to share the excitement and success. 

    Among the horses he raced was ten-race winner Buds a Flyin, a Washington-bred son of Waiting Game whose totals included three wins at Emerald Downs last summer, and 2013 Emerald Downs maiden winner Wind a Flyin. Blustery Buck won the 1995 Apple Valley Handicap for Schmid and Norm Clem, who bred Buds a Flyin. Stakes-placed Roderic's Express also raced in the veterinarian's colors.

   Gary also enjoyed hiking and snow and water skiing.

   He was involved in several groups including Morning Rotary Club, AA, WSU Alumni, Washington Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, American Veterinary Medical Association and the Washington State Veterinary Medical Association.
    Gary is survived by his wife, Barbara; son, Matthew (Shantel) Schmid, of Kansas City; daughter Jennifer (Troy) Brantley, of Ellensburg; son, Brendan (Shannon) Schmid, of Ellensburg; grandchildren, Sydney, D'Marco, DeAndre', Taylor, Jade, Hannah, Sarah, Jerin and Isaiah; sister, Cheryl (Ed) Wilkinson, of Moses Lake; and sister, Deborah Fash-Desai (Naren Desai) of Scottsdale, Arizona.

  Gary's life will be celebrated on March 22, 2014, at the Liberty Theater on 5th and Pine in Ellensburg, at 2pm, reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Gary's memory and his love for animals to the College of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 647010, Pullman, WA 99164.
 

   Hugh served honorably in World War II in the Army.

   In 1946 he met Dorothy, the love of his life, and they were married September 17, 1951. They settled in Spokane where they were surrounded by family and friends.

   Hugh loved fishing, building birdhouses, horses and any and all sports. He spent his life as a gifted blacksmith and breeder of Thoroughbred horses. His life revolved around the sport and the racetrack.  Among the horses he bred was 1968 two-time juvenile stakes winner Fitness.

   Along with his twin brothers, Troy and Roy, both trainers, Hugh helped make the family well-known, particularly at Playfair Race Course, Longacres and Portland Meadows. Both Troy and Roy won training championships at Playfair, while Troy also earned two training titles at Hastings Racecourse (Exhibition Park) and is a member of the British Columbia Racing Hall of Fame.

   Hubert served on the WTBOA board of directors from 1971-76.

   Hubert and his late wife Dorothy are the parents of former Pacific Northwest horseman Rick Taylor, who today with his wife Kathy, owns and operates Special T Thoroughbreds farm and stallion station in Temecula, California.

   Hubert also leaves behind daughters, Delite Koler and Cindy (Scott) Elliott, of Spokane; 11 grandchildren; and ten great-grandchildren.

Melanie Walters

    Melanie Walters, 37, the daughter of prominent British Columbia horseman Dr. Ken Walters, died as the results of injuries sustained in a training accident at her parent's farm on February 13, 2014. The young trainer, who leaves children Laurel, 8, and Caden, 7, was prominent in hunter-jumper circles before training racehorses. In 2013 she had 15 wins, mostly with her parents' runners, in 58 starts.

Shimmer of Silk

   Rick and Debbie Pabst's homebred stakes winner Shimmer of Silk was humanely euthanized on February 28, 2014, due to the infirmities of old age. The Washington-bred daughter of Drone-Star Jasmine, by Pia Star, was 26.

   She's All Silk, who was trained throughout her two seasons of racing by Jim Penney, was most successful at three, when she won the $30,000 Seafair Queen Stakes over multiple stakes winners Cadette Stevens and Peterhof's Patea, and then finished third to champion Peterhof's Patea and Cadette Stevens in the $30,000 Mike Donohoe Memorial Stakes. She earned $39,525 with a 3-2-1 record.

   A half-sister to stakes winners Firey Star and Science Fiction and stakes-placed Bravest Star, Shimmer of Silk produced 14 named foals, all 12 of her foals which started have won, including 2006 Washington champion three-year-old filly and $218,454 earner She's All Silk and stakes-placed fillies Private Fortune and Silky Sally. Private Fortune, who placed in five stakes at Emerald Downs and earned $104,946, is now a member of the Pabsts' Blue Ribbon Farm broodmare band and is being bred, for the first time, to leading New York stallion Freud.