Shotgun Kowboy rewarding trainer's good deed

Shotgun Kowboy is shooting for his third straight stakes win Sunday in the $250,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park. He might never have been produced were it not for the long-term care that breeder, owner, and trainer C.R. Trout took of the horse’s dam, Shotgun Jane.

Shotgun Jane, a half-sister to the millionaire Maysville Slew, sustained a devastating injury as a young horse. She was unable to race and unable to carry a foal for a number of years. Now, she is responsible for Shotgun Kowboy, one of the most exciting young horses Trout has ever had.

“His mother, when she was a baby, we had her on a farm, and she broke both coffin bones in her front feet,” Trout said. “It took us a long time to get her back before we could breed her. It took us a long time to get where we needed to be. She’s good now. It took about six years to get her that way.”

The coffin bone is a weight-bearing bone in the hoof.

Shotgun Kowboy, by Kodiak Kowboy, is the second foal to race from his dam. Trout said he has an upcoming Include foal from Shotgun Jane and plans to breed her this year to Midnight Lute.

Shotgun Kowboy has won 3 of 4 starts, including the $100,000 Clever Trevor on Nov. 7 and the $85,000 Oklahoma Classics Juvenile on Oct. 17, both at Remington.

Trout has won 16 races from 35 starters this meet at Remington in what has been a career season. He said Shotgun Kowboy, depending on how he runs Sunday, is a candidate to advance to 3-year-old stakes at Oaklawn Park. Most of the other horses in his stable will be turned out and resume racing next summer at Lone Star Park.