The Cock Of The Walk starts strong winning
the G1 Graham Paint & Appaloosa Derby
FORT WORTH, Texas— The $60,685 Grade 1 Graham Paint and Appaloosa Derby is the first derby
for the year for Paints and Appaloosas at the Oklahoma City-based Remington
Park. The Cock Of The Walk won the race by a half-length ahead of last years
world champion Rio Rojo Jessie. The Cock Of The Walk ran the 350-yard race in
17.63 seconds and earned $23,065 for the win.
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The Cock Of The Walk strides ahead in the 2011 Graham
Paint & Appaloosa Derby. Photo courtesy: Dustin Orona Photography.
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Prior to the race owner Wade Leggett introduced himself to Donald Kelly, owner
of Rio Rojo Jessie. "We wished each other the best and talked briefly about how
the race would more than likely be between our two horses," said Leggett. "I was
really nervous coming into this race against such a tough horse as Rio Rojo
Jessie."
Leggett co-owns, breeds and raises Paint Horses with his father Charles in
Muskogee, Okla. When The Cock Of The Walk won the Grade 1 Lone Star Park Paint
and Appaloosa Futurity at the end of last year it was their first Paint stakes
win with one of their home-bred Paint horses. At the close of the race season,
the gelding was named 2010 Champion Solid Paint-Bred 2-Year-Old Gelding. He now
has two Grade 1 stakes wins back-to-back and has earned a total of $60,233 with
six starts in his career. The Cock Of The Walk is a sorrel solid Paint-bred
gelding by Royal Quick Flash and out of Corona Lace, by Corona Cartel AQHA. He
is trained by Luis Villa Franco and ridden by Kenny Muntz.
"I’m so proud of The Cock Of The Walk winning the Graham Paint and Appaloosa
Derby! He's such a great horse," commented Wade Leggett, who also named the
horse. "I loved how the guys on TVG kept getting cracked up about his name and
couldn't even hardly talk without laughing! Classic! I have it recorded at
home."
Rio Rojo Jessie finishing second after dueling with The Cock Of The Walk for the
350 yards race. The bay solid Paint-bred mare ran the race in 17.69 seconds, and
earned $10,316 to make her lifetime earnings $107,853 in eight races. She was
named the 2010 World Champion Solid Paint-Bred Racehorse, the 2010 Champion
Solid Paint-Bred 2-Year-Old and 2-Year-Old Filly. She was bred and is owned by
Donald Kelly of Natchitoches, La., trained by Eddie Willis and ridden by Matthew
Casebolt. She is sired by Feature Mr Jess AQHA and is out of Call Me Silking.
Third across the wire was Streakin Seven, a flashy bay tobiano gelding by Texas
Six and out of Royal Quick Deal. He crossed the wire with a time of 17.75
seconds, earning $6,675 for lifetime earnings of $41,419. He is owned by Ronald
Davis of Sapulpa, Okla., and was bred by Kay Churchwell of Okmulgee, Okla.,
trained by Stacey Capps and ridden by Mike Holmes. Other horses completing the
race, along with times, include Blast The Cash (17.79 seconds), Prize Jive
(17.86 seconds), Valdarama (17.90 seconds), Special Sign (17.98 seconds),
Bailout (18.16 seconds), Country Strummer (18.17 seconds) and Lady Star Dancer
(18.52 seconds).
More about Paint Horse racing
Horse racing has long been one of America’s favorite spectator sports. With the
growth of the Paint Horse breed, it’s no wonder that Paints have become one of
the hottest tickets in the horse racing industry. Since 1966, when APHA
officially recognized the sport, Paint racing has made major strides forward. In
that inaugural year, 17 starters ran for $1,290 in just two states—Texas and
Oklahoma.
A total of 17 states now feature Paint racing, including Arizona, California,
Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota,
Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Paint
Horses also race in Canada.
"With a wealth of top performing Paint racehorses, dedicated owners and
talented trainers and jockeys, Paint Racing continues to remain a strong program
in the horse industry," said APHA Executive Director Lex Smurthwaite. "Paint
Racing enthusiasts recognized the amount of purse money available and have
jumped in to take advantage of the lucrative payouts."
For more information on Paint Horse racing, contact APHA’s racing department at
(817) 222-6444, email racing@apha.com, or
visit paintracing.com.