JAKE'S APPALOOSA: A BIG WINNER

Bob's Dad was a member of the Curry County Mounted Patrol

by Bobby Joe Snipes, guest writer              

Hi Mil,  Just wanted to compliment you on your

thorough coverage of the State Fair.  The aromas and

excitements come rushing back to my memories of

years past.  The early morning smell of that old

contestant kitchen was one that you just never forget.  

You see…back in the 60s Dad had retired from the

 tire business and was raising Appaloosa horses for

a hobby.  Dad was convinced that he could improve

the quality of the Appaloosa breed, which included

showing them at halter and being judged accordingly.

Dad was a natural horseman from boyhood and he

had above average success, plus he was having the

joy of his life.  That joy also included the atmosphere

that you can only get at the state fair.

But 1965 was a different story!  There had developed

an interest in not only showing Appaloosas at halter

but also racing them and the Appaloosa Association

had negotiated for a race at the N. M. State Fair.  It

was to be called The World Wide Futurity and had

grown to be the most prestigious Appaloosa race with

biggest purse.  Now let me regress at this point.

Dad owned an Appaloosa stallion named Comanches

Equal.  On a spring day in 1964 one of Dad's friends

from Plainview pulled up with a yearling colt in his

trailer.  His sire was Comanches Equal and he was out

of a thoroughbred mare, Whirling Ex., whose pedigree

was decent but not outstanding. The colt was kind of a

stringy, thin made colt and Dad liked him but they

could not agree on the price.  Here is what Dad said,

"Ace, I want to run this colt, If he wins the World Wide,

I will give you another $500."  And the horse trade was

on, Dad owned Gold Strikes Equal.

In the spring of 1965 after a winter of good feed and

conditioning,  Dad hired Jerry Lee to give Gold Strike

some formal training.  Jerry was a quarter horse trainer

at Ruidoso Downs and he always went to the state fair

afterwards.  

After a couple of months training Jerry told Dad that

this was a pretty good colt and he had outworked some

good quarter horses.  Dad was encouraged but knew

better than to get to excited.   

Well suddenly (it seemed like) it was September and

time for the State Fair.  Gold Strike had never had an

official start… the time trials would be his first.  There

were about 8 time trials and the top 10 qualified for

the finals of the World Wide.  Suspense was high,

nerves were frayed and our guts were in a knot.  Gold

Strike ran second in his trial but it was a fast heat and

he qualified 7th out of the top 10.  Not bad, a little

disappointing but he cooled out good, was bucking

and snorting on the walker.  His legs were not sore

and Jerry had a week to fine tune him for the finals.

A week later------Race  Day! !  Nerves again…guts

in bigger knots.  Jerry was calm and confident…very

thorough about every detail…pleased with our quali-

fication, wanted the jockey to get him out a little

faster.  A friend of Dads said he could tell that Jake

wasn't nervous….he was whistling "Jingle Bells".

"They are all in line"   They're  off.  Gold Strike broke

clean and ran with the pack…about 2-3 horses behind

at the 250 yard pole and that is when he really started

running.  The jockey spanked him and with his ears

laid back he passed them one by one…he was a fast

closer and the farther he ran the faster he got.  Gold

Strikes Equal--Winner of The World Wide Appaloosa

Futurity—1965--New Mexico State Fair!

The first thing Dad did when he got home was call

his friend, Ace Hooper to tell him he was sending

him his $500.

Gold Strikes Equal set a world Appaloosa record for

870 yards at the Centennial Race Track(Colorado)

in 1966.  Among his other accomplishments, Gold

Strikes Equal was inducted into the Top 10 Appaloosa

Speed Legends in 2008.  The same year,  my Dad,
Jake Snipes, was entered into the permanent hall
of Appaloosa racing history.  

And now Mil, You know why The New Mexico

State Fair means so much to me.  Your Friend,

Bobby Joe
********************************************
For MIL'S PLACE, by Bobby Joe Snipes, CHS '53
9/14/19