Paint & Appaloosa High-Point Award Super Glide Harley, a 2-year-old sorrel overo geld-
ing, certainly had horsepower when it came to the 2012 Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa Futurity races. A second-place finish in the November 3 Lone Star Speed- horse Paint & Appaloosa Futurity gave the gelding the final points needed to clinch the inaugural Speedhorse High-Point Award, part of the Speedhorse Triple Crown competition. The inaugural Triple Crown consisted of three Speed-
horse Paint & Appaloosa Futurities at three different tracks in 2012: Remington Park, Fair Meadows and Lone Star Park. Winners included Ubuyillfly, Lajollas Mr Big Stuff and Imachickenkicker, respectively. Though the Triple Crown went unclaimed in its first year, Super Glide Harley earned the most points of any horse competing in the trio of races to win the high-point award—he received a $2,500 cash bonus, courtesy of RaMax Farms. Super Glide Harley placed third in the Speedhorse
Graham Futurity and second in the races at Fair Meadows and Lone Star Park. Owned by Paint Horse Queens of Coweta, Oklahoma, Super Glide Harley is by Awesome Chrome and out of Biker Chick.
Controversy Forces Fair Meadows to
Reconsider End of Live Racing Following a November 1 announcement to discontinue
live horseracing at Fair Meadows Racetrack in Tulsa, Oklahoma, horsemen and legislators rallied to make a dif- ference. Originally, track officials cited a $1.44 million sponsorship agreement between Fair Meadows Racetrack
8 JANUARY 2013 PAINT HORSE RACING
and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation that included a provi- sion to discontinue live racing. Board members cited decreased attendance and betting in recent years as the reason for their decision, according to a November 6 Daily Racing Form press release. The decision would have impacted horseracing statewide, reducing Oklahoma racetrack purse supplements by millions of dollars.
Frustrated racing organizations throughout Okla- homa—including the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Asso- ciation and the Thoroughbred Racing Association of Oklahoma—fought the closure, citing the Fair Meadows board’s violation of several Oklahoma acts governing horseracing, according to a November 11, 2012, blog on StallionSearch.com. Concerned about the impact Fair Meadow’s closure might have on the local and state racing industries and related jobs, Oklahoma State Representative Don Armes asked Governor Mary Fallin and Attorney General Scott Pruitt to investigate the fair board’s actions. Under scrutiny, the Tulsa County Fair Board met
December 6 to revisit their decision and hear feedback from a group of about 75 concerned citizens. The board met again on December 12, during which time they voted to sign a pair of Oklahoma Horse Racing Com- mission licenses that will permit live horseracing in 2013 at the track. The group also voted to defer action on the Creek Nation agreement, according to a December 13 Tulsa World article. Operating since the late 1980s, Fair Meadows is home to a mixed meet for Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, Paints and Appaloosas and features such premier Paint races as the Oklahoma Horseman’s Association Futu- rity and Derby and the Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa Futurity.