Silverheel’s a Jenuine Contender

Roy Ray Moorefield is a West Virginia hillbilly and proud of it. He has earned most of his money through his R&R; Construction Co. in Downey but has had considerably more fun as the co-owner of Hi Ho Silverheel’s.

“Easy money, let’s go, mom,” said Moorefield to his 77-year-old mother, Bertha, as they headed to the winner’s circle after one of the 5-year-old pacer’s six victories.

Moorefield hopes to crowd the winner’s circle again Friday night with 150 friends and employees of his construction and real estate companies when the meet superstar seeks his seventh consecutive victory in the $50,000 Pres Jenuine Pace.

Moorefield, a free spirit, talks candidly about nearly any subject. A frequent patron at the Commerce Casino, with a preference for Texas hold ‘em poker, Moorefield likens the two experiences: “Sometimes you hit, sometimes you don’t.”

He got one of his biggest hits at a Los Alamitos yearling sale in 1992.

“Milan Smith, my trainer, was out of money, and a quarter horse partner I had didn’t want to go in,” said Moorefield, who paid $1,850 for Hi Ho Silverheel’s, the bargain colt by Walton Hanover. He later sold a half interest to Smith’s wife, Myrna.

“I had owned some quarter horses with Ernie Bor and had a stakes winner named Broker Bob,” Moorefield said. “But I liked the buggy horses. They race every week. You don’t have to wait 10 or 12 days. I was looking for a trainer and somebody said to go down and talk to Milan Smith. He’s just got one horse and he’s honest.”

The honest trainer and the honest horse have combined for 20 victories in 27 starts and $400,000 in earnings.

Moorefield gives special credit to Myrna Smith, who has seen all Hi Ho Silverheel’s races from a wheelchair after suffering hip and leg injuries in separate barn accidents during the last 18 months.

“She’s the backbone,” Moorefield said. “When he got hurt last year, she said he’d come back. She always kept the faith and said God would take care of him. . . . She gets up at 5 every morning and feeds him apples and carrots.”

A Jenuine victory to cap one of the most impressive campaigns waged at Los Alamitos would mean a lot to Smith, who named the colt after Jay Silverheels, a close friend who played Tonto in “The Lone Ranger” series, and also was a friend of Jenuine, a Harness Hall of Fame member and long-time Western Harness executive who died last year.

“They will be smiling down on us,” said Smith, who would like to bid adieu to the track where the horse is unbeaten in 10 starts.

Hi Ho Silverheel’s is scheduled to be flown to Newark, N.J., Tuesday to begin an extensive Eastern campaign.

“They went in a covered wagon last time,” said Moorefield of the pacer’s week-long drive east two years ago in an old trailer behind a pick-up truck with no jack. This time, the hillbillies are returning in style.

Los Alamitos Notes

The Jenuine will be the second race Friday with an 8:20 post time. Hi Ho Silverheel’s drew post No. 4 and will be opposed by Full Throttle, Falcon Dakota, Cat In A Hat, Distinguishedbaron and Fiddler. . . . Driver Rick Kuebler, who sat out half of the 1995 season because of knee surgery, has teamed well with Hi Ho Silverheel’s, who missed the entire year of racing because of a suspensory problem. “It doesn’t get any better than this: Hi Ho and then winning with the family horse!” said Kuebler after capping a quadruple with victories by Hi Ho Silverheel’s and Need Help, owned by his mother, Elise.

Nick’s Fantasy, who won the Little Brown Jug last year for owner Ken Carver of North Hollywood, finished third in a $50,000 Graduate leg at the Meadowlands Saturday and should clash with Hi Ho Silverheel’s at the end of the month. Carver said his Markenjay Stable will return to Los Alamitos next winter for the first time since 1988. . . . The California Horse Racing Board has found six trainers blameless for eight positive tests this meet for a banned substance, an antihistamine that was derived from a food supplement.

Other major stakes on this closing weekend are the $15,000 Albaquel for mare pacers Saturday and the $15,000 Barney Ruben for trotters Sunday. . . . Overall handle is averaging $970,000, up from $853,000 last year, but on-track betting is averaging $247,000, down from $314,000 last year despite better racing, a superstar horse and the $5-million Vessels Club. . . . Harness racing shifts to Sacramento April 12 for a 44-program meet through July 21. . . . Quarter horse racing returns to Los Alamitos April 19 for a 146-night stand through Dec. 22.