Fair Meadows track report

Got Country Grip, one of the fastest paint horses ever, overcame extreme trouble in the $45,000 Speedhorse Derby last Friday night at Fair Meadows in Tulsa, Okla., to win his 12th straight race and remain undefeated.

Got Country Grip was bumped soundly at the start of the 350-yard race for 3-year-old paints and Appaloosas, but led at every call for a half-length win at 1-5.

"I don't know how he won the race," said Jimmy Maddux, who owns Got Country Grip. "He got hit hard, and it turned him about three-quarters of the way around. He's just got so much heart. He just wants to win so bad."

Got Country Grip, who lost a hind shoe in the race, covered the distance in 17.74 seconds. He owns the paint world record for 350 yards, having run the distance in 17.23 seconds in June. Got Country Grip also owns the paint world record for 400 yards, covering the distance in 19.55 seconds in April.

Brandon Parum trains Got Country Grip, whose regular rider is G.R. Carter Jr.

Next-race plans are pending, with few suitable stakes options for Got Country Grip. His connections are hoping that a Quarter Horse stakes would be opened up to paints, that a match race with agreeable conditions could be carded, or that a rich stakes could be created for paints.

"We're dying to work out a deal at either Ruidoso or Los Alamitos or both, but as of yet we have nowhere to run him," said Maddux. "We're just looking for something."

Maddux said if no racing opportunity is available, Got Country Grip would be turned out and return to racing next year. Maddux acquired Got Country Grip as a weanling in a trade deal that included one of his stakes-winning mares.

The gelding was one of two stakes winners Maddux had Friday night at Fair Meadows. He also won a $116,000 futurity with Texas Royal Snow, an Appaloosa who is now 5 for 5.