Calista Corona starts strong as a 4-year-old
by winning the Oklahoma Paint Maturity

FORT WORTH, Texas—Calista Corona, a 4-year-old sorrel solid Paint-bred gelding, won the RG1 Oklahoma Paint Maturity, held March 26 at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla. The gelding is owned by Charles Trochta of Oklahoma City, and Sammy Hester of Tulsa, Okla. He was ridden by Larry Payne and trained by Hester.

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Calista Corona		Corona Cartel		Holland Ease		First Down Dash
						Easy Henryetta
				Corona Chick		Chicks Beduino
						Sizzling Lil
		Little Sara		Treasured		Easy Jet Too
						Treasure Glass
				Judys Chick		Walters Chick
						The Lady Sadie

Calista Corona covered the 350-yard distance in :18.47. The gelding, sired by Corona Cartel AQHA and out of Little Sara, earned $12,946 for the win. This increased his earnings to $177,984, maintaining his all-time leading money-earner of Paint racehorses status after breaking the record earlier this year.

Special Hero, an 8-year-old brown solid Paint-bred gelding owned by Teddi Meek of Sallisaw, Okla., posted a time of :18.52 for second place. The gelding was ridden by Mike Frederick and trained by Meek. He was sired by Another Hero AQHA and is out of Kodachrome Miss.

Eyes A Fast Chick, a 4-year-old gray solid Paint-bred mare sired by Mr Eye Opener AQHA and out of Treasured Chick, came in third with a time of :18.54. She is owned by Sparky Mullins of Wagoner, Okla., was ridden by G. R. Carter Jr. and is trained by Mullins.

Western Snow, Crow Sovereign, Winner Storm, What Was I Thinking, Shez Showin Off, Treasures Promise and Bundleoflove completed the field.

More about Paint Horse racing
Horse racing has long been one of America’s favorite spectator sports. With the recent 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. In 2005, more than 600 starters competed in more than 800 APHA-recognized races for purses totaling more than $5.1 million.

A total of 18 states now feature Paint racing, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Paint Horses also race in Canada.

“The future is really bright for Paint racing,” said Lex Smurthwaite, APHA’s executive director. “Owners from other racing breeds are getting involved with Paints because of the strong and steady growth of our program. It is still relatively easy to get involved and be competitive.”