Six geldings and four fillies will sprint it out to claim the Kansas Bred Futurity for two-year-olds on Saturday to highlight the final session of the 2009 Eureka Downs season.
The horses, all bred in the Sunflower State, had the 10 fastest qualified times at a distance of 350 yards from the 30-entrant trials two weeks ago, also at Eureka Downs, separated from fastest to 10th fastest by only 36-hundreths of a second.
There is a $55,200.50 purse up, with the winner earning its owner more than $22,000; while some of the area's most notable breeders are represented in the futurity, with three having two horses apiece in the meet.
The quickest horse, She's A Demon, and the horse with the fifth-fastest time, Getting The Cash, were bred at El Dorado's Hogoboom Farms. Paul Newmaster is the breeder of Fly Jettie Fly and Feature Mr Snow, the second and fourth-fastest horses in the trial; while Sam Brookover is the breeder of High On Cheri and Boot Scootin Fred.
JK Running Horses owns three of the top five horses (two bred by Newmaster and one by Hogoboom Farms) and all three JK entries are trained by John Ness.
As in any type of racing, what happened two weeks ago won't matter what happens Saturday, but here are some thumbnail history involving each of the 10 horses (in order of time in the trials).
• She's A Demon (4 races-1 win-0 place-1 show) ran like one in the final futurity final. The horse has had only one rider (Helen King, three wins in seven starts at Eureka), whose husband, John King, along with Pat and David Pearce, own the horse, and Larry Sharp is the trainer. It was the first career win for the filly, who had never finished higher than third in any of her previous three career races.
• Fly Jettie Fly (3-0-1-0) stayed with She's A Demon in their race, but lost by a length despite having the second fastest time in the trials. It was the first time the gelding, owned by JK Running Horses and trained by John Ness, finished in the top three in his career, including being outrun in an earlier race by She's A Demon at another track. Jesus Salazar (five wins in 42 starts) will against ride on the gelding like he did in the trials.
• Go With Corona (1-1-0-0) already paid dividends for owner and breeder Dannie Lee Lloyd, who waited until the last possible moment to put the gelding in the trials for his horse's first race, paying $2,500 to enter. The horse, trained by Glen Melson, responded with a close win in his trial race. Stoney Whittle (16 wins in 59 starts), who rode the horse in the trials after Doug Frink was injured in another trial race, will ride the gelding.
• Feature Mr Snow (3-0-1-0) recorded a fast time on his first time at Eureka after not finishing in the top three at two different race tracks, including Remington Park in May. The gelding was just nipped by Go With Corona in the futurity trials. The second JK Running Horses/Ness combination, won't have as much time to rest as he has had in the two previous starts. Agustin Rodriguez (three wins in 18 starts) is the jockey on the gelding in the futurity.
• Getting The Cash (2-0-0-2) finished third in both of his previous career races, with both at Eureka Downs. The third JK Running Horses entry (bred by Hogoboom Farms). Having the inside may have been the difference for the gelding, considering the two horses that beat him were on the outside. Megan Gammon (statistics not available) will ride him in the futurity after Salazar rode him in the trials.
• Sweet And Dash (4-2-0-0), owned by Tom Maher and trained by Harvey Smith, will look for her third straight win at Eureka Downs. Both of the filly's victories have been wire to wire with Stormy Whittle on board, but Earl Sutton (statistics not available) will be on board this time. The filly lost her first race at Eureka to another futurity finalist, Had To Be Classy.
• One Way Driver (2-0-0-1) is another gelding who picked up his first top three finish in the trials. The gelding, owned, trained and bred by Jeffrey T. Ruland, had broken poorly in his first race, and was the best of the rest after falling behind She's A Demon and Fly Jettie Fly in the trial race. All of his races have been at Eureka, and Andres Villagran (statistics not available) will ride him in the futurity.
• High On Cheri (3-2-0-0) was one of the two horses who were able to have fast enough times for the futurity despite the sloppy conditions of the only Saturday trial run. Owner/breeder Sam Brookover hadn't raced the filly for a month before the trial — both times at Remington Park — but the Charlie Hunt trained horse didn't seem to have any problems. The horse gets the far outside position and Thomas Byrd (two wins in four starts), who was the rider in the trials, will again ride the filly in the futurity.
• Had To Be Classy (3-1-1-0) has had success on the outside, with the filly earning a first and a second at Eureka Downs (the first place finish coming after resting for 24 hours from a previous race), but drew an inside position for the futurity. She is owned by Tom Maher and trained by Harvey Smith. The horse was just beaten by High On Cheri in the Saturday trial. She will be riden by Jim Beeson.
• Boot Scootin Fred (3-0-2-0) was second in the trial race won by Sweet And Dash, the gelding's first racing action in almost two months (the last race before the trial was April 30 at Remington Park). The second Brookover/Hunt horse, like Feature Mr Snow, will have to race again in a lot less than he has been accustomed to before now. Doug Brimlee (nine wins in 46 starts) will take Byrd’s place and will be the rider of the gelding in the futurity.
