LOS ALAMITOS : Strawfly Special Gives Owner Hall His First Taste of Grade I Success

Quarter horse owner Jack Hall of Corona recalled watching the televised scene of 92-year-old Frances Genter watching Unbridled give her her first Kentucky Derby victory and wondered if he would have the patience or longevity to match her.

Hall, 57, had invested substantially in quarter horses since 1976, but a major stakes victory had eluded him.

The drought ended Friday night at Los Alamitos when Strawfly Special, an embryo-transplant colt, won the Grade I Southern California Derby.

Los Alamitos CEO Ed Allred, whose Way Maker was beaten by a head in the race, saluted Hall. “I never rooted against my own horse before, but when your horse rallied, I was kind of cheering for you,” Allred said.

“We’re really happy to break the ice,” said Hall, who watched the race with his wife, Maureen. “Maybe we won’t have to wait 14 years to do it again.”

The next night, in the $334,000 Golden State Futurity, Hall’s Illawardyall, a homebred filly by his stallion By Yall, finished fourth.

Hall also bred Takin On The Cash, runner-up in the race. “I sold Takin On The Cash as a yearling for $55,000 at the Super Select Sale at Ruidoso,” Hall said. “I sold his full brother, Dashing Dasher, at the same sale last year for $170,000.”

Strawfly Special, trained by Marshall Ferrell, scored his 10th victory in 21 starts and increased his earnings to $188,175 with the $70,640 first prize.

Strawfly Special was bred in Texas by Don and Jolene Urschel, who mated their Pie In The Sky mare, Fly In The Pie, to Special Effort, a prominent stallion standing in Oklahoma.

Shortly thereafter, a veterinarian transplanted the embryo into a lesser recipient mare, who gave birth the next year. The practice has become more common in recent years in quarter horse breeding but is prohibited in the thoroughbred and standardbred industries.

Hall bought the colt for $100,000 at the Ruidoso yearling sale because he liked his conformation and attitude. He now owns two more transplant horses.

Hall said Strawfly Special might race once more before joining By Yall at stud at the Winterhaven Equine Surgical Center at Aubrey, Tex.

Moments after Alvin Ely left the winner’s circle Saturday night, celebrating the victory of Jacks Dash in the $334,000 Golden State Futurity, he was congratulated by another owner and reminded of the luck of the game.

“The race before you claimed him this summer, I had a slip in for $10,000,” said Juan Lambaren of Mission Viejo. “But I thought he was a colt, and when I found out he was a gelding, I tore up the slip.”

Ely, a Riverside resident who has owned horses for 20 years, shook his head sympathetically. He became the lucky owner when trainer Rodney Hart put in a $12,500 claim for Jacks Dash in his next start July 26.

Jacks Dash, a son of Dash For Cash, scored his fifth consecutive victory and has earned more than $280,000 for Ely.

Jacks Dash covered the 400 yards in a stakes record 19.67 seconds. Jockey Henry Garcia capped his second successful weekend of the meet after also winning aboard Strawfly Special. Three weeks ago, the 32-year-old native of the Azores scored consecutive-night victories on Apprehend in the $167,000 Governor’s Cup Derby and Jacks Dash in the $334,000 Ed Burke Futurity.

Idaho is growing champion jockeys almost as abundantly as potatoes. The state ranks 41st in population with slightly more than a million residents but produced 1990 riding leaders in both quarter horse and thoroughbred racing.

Kip Didericksen, 24, pushed his purse earnings past $2.7 million on New Year’s Eve, an all-time quarter horse mark. Gary Stevens, 27, won his first thoroughbred title with more than $13.8 million, a personal high.

Didericksen, a stringy 5 feet 9 inches, was born in Preston, Ida., a small town near the Utah border, but grew up along with Stevens in Boise, where Didericksen’s father was director of racing. Idaho also is the birthplace of jockey Earl Sande, who won the 1930 Triple Crown on Gallant Fox.

Notes

The match race between quarter horse Griswold and thoroughbred Valiant Pete, horse racing’s version of Carl Lewis vs. Ben Johnson, is off. Los Alamitos officials had hoped to bring the pair together for a betting race Jan. 12, but Valiant Pete suffered a cut hoof while finishing second in the Palos Verdes Handicap Saturday at Santa Anita. The race was doomed before that, however; a Los Alamitos official said the track offered $40,000 to the winner and $20,000 to the runner-up with no costs to the owner. “We wanted to run at 4 1/2 furlongs (990 yards) but they could only go 870 (yards),” said Pete Valenti, owner of Valiant Pete. Valiant Pete set a world record of 49 1/5 seconds for 4 1/2 furlongs, Griswold a world record of 44.07 seconds for 870, both at Los Alamitos.

Patrons betting No. 2 struck it rich Saturday night. The number won seven of the 13 races, finished second once and was third twice. The winners were Richs Lark ($21), Kellys Candy Man ($9), Lucks Girl ($3.80), Stiltz A ($19.20), Dales Private Jet ($4.40), Argulite ($11.40) and Win He Can ($5.40). Post 2 had accounted for only 24 winners from 316 meet starters--8%--entering last week. Only posts 1 and 10 had lower percentages.

Dash For Speed, a 6-year-old mare whose victory in the Champion of Champions made her a leading contender for World Champion honors, will be bred to Exclusive Enough, a thoroughbred, this spring.

The $50,000-added Las Damas Handicap, a Grade I test for fillies and mares at 400 yards Saturday, could attract Tempered Glass, Isaws Sugar Bear, Lil Bit Rusty, Dashin Dee Dee and Barbs Bounce.

Trainer Caesar Dominguez, who was fined $5,000 and began a one-year suspension in August after one of his horses tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine, lost an appeal in court last week but plans another appeal.