Jess Savin Candy must survive All American time trials before going for a sweep
Jess Savin Candy is the nation’s most accomplished 2-year-old racehorse this year with wins in the $1 million Ruidoso Futurity on June 12 and last Sunday’s $1 million Rainbow Futurity at Ruidoso Downs. A gelding, Jess Savin Candy has won 3 of 4 starts and earned $846,400 for owners Jim Streelman and Bill Dale, who race as Dutch Masters III.
Now comes the hard part – a time trial for the All American Futurity at 440 yards on Aug. 20 or 21. Jess Savin Candy must have one of the five fastest qualifying times on his trial day to earn a berth in the $3 million final on Sept. 6.
“His toughest race is in front of him,” trainer John Stinebaugh said on Wednesday. “The hardest part is getting them qualified.
“Everyone talks about the Triple Crown. There will be no Triple Crown unless he gets qualified. Don’t jump the gun.”
Jess Savin Candy is the first horse in 16 years with a chance to sweep Ruidoso’s historic Triple Crown for 2-year-olds. Special Effort swept the series in 1981, the only horse to do so. Back then, the first race was known as the Kansas Futurity.
Deceptively won the Kansas and Rainbow futurities in 1992, but was sidelined with injury and did not start in the All American Futurity trials. The following year, Treacherously won the Ruidoso and Rainbow futurities in the first year the opening race in the series was known as the Ruidoso Futurity. Treacherously finished third in the All American Futurity behind the California shipper A Classic Dash.
In 2005, Leading Spirit won the Ruidoso and Rainbow futurities, but was only fifth in a division of the All American Futurity trials.
Jess Savin Candy was second in his debut in a division of the Ruidoso Futurity trials on May 28, then won the final at 350 yards by a neck at 11-1. Jess Savin Candy won a division of the Rainbow Futurity trials by a sharp 1 1/4 lengths at 400 yards on July 9, setting the fastest qualifying time for the final.
Sunday, Jess Savin Candy was fully extended to win the final by a nose over CC Hocks on a sloppy and sealed track. Francisco Calderon has been aboard for all four wins.
“That was for sure his hardest race because of the surface,” Stinebaugh said. “Calderon said that for the first 300 yards, he felt like he was riding a horse with no shoes.
“That horse gets across the ground pretty easy. But in the mud, those horses had him beat and he was determined to get in front of them. Until the last 50 yards, it was pretty rough.”
Stinebaugh noticed in the winner’s circle that Jess Savin Candy recovered quickly.
“I know his adrenaline was flowing,” he said. “It wasn’t like he was stressed at all.”
The Triple Crown format has changed since Special Effort needed eight races to complete the sweep. In 1981, the Rainbow and All American futurities had two sets of trials – an elimination trial in which runners had to finish in the top three to gain a spot in the time trials. The time trials were held on a single day, with the 10 fastest qualifiers advancing to the final. Special Effort ran three races in 24 days to sweep the Rainbow series, and three times in 25 days to sweep the All American.
Elimination trials have not been part of the All American Futurity format since 1992. In recent years, Ruidoso has adopted a format of running futurity time trials over two days with the five fastest times each day advancing to a final. The current format does not afford any margin of error regarding qualifying times.
Aside from racing against the clock, there are other factors that make the All American time trials difficult, notably a longer distance and Ruidoso’s weather. Last year, there were 16 trials each day with ever-changing conditions. There was no wind in the trial won by eventual futurity winner Whistle Stop Cafe on the first day compared to an 11-mile per hour tailwind in the second day trial win by Instygator, who was later second in the futurity.
On such lengthy days, rains can come and go, changing the surface. Some trials are more competitive than others. The opposite happened to Jess Savin Candy in the Rainbow trials on July 9. Sent off at 1-5, Jess Savin Candy had a comfortable lead midway through the race.
“He’s not afraid to run out there by himself,” Stinebaugh said.
The list of 10 qualifiers for the All American Futurity will be determined by times in the thousandths of a second.
“We’re hoping the trials are somewhat fair,” Stinebaugh said. “All things being equal, I think he’s one of those 10.”
Purchased for $30,000 at the Heritage Place yearling sale in Oklahoma City last September, Jess Savin Candy has put the 64-year-old Stinebaugh in a unique position in his 35-year career as a trainer. Stinebaugh is a former jockey and former assistant to the late Blane Schvaneveldt. He was riding the year Special Effort won the Triple Crown.
In March at Retama Park, Stinebaugh noticed Jess Savin Candy’s ability, particularly after a first-place finish in a 250-yard schooling race.
“I think back at Retama when I was getting those guys ready,” he said. “Who would have guessed we’d do this? Horses like him are few and far between.”