The All American Futurity is a race for two-year-old
American Quarter Horse
The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of a quarter mile or less; some have been clocked at s ...
racehorse
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...
s run at
Ruidoso Downs Race Track
Ruidoso Downs is a horse racing track in Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico. The track hosts both Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing, notably the All American Futurity, the richest race in Quarter Horse racing.
It also hosts the Grade I All American ...
in
Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico
Ruidoso Downs is a city in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States, located within the Lincoln National Forest. The population was 1,824 at the 2000 census and 2,815 at the 2010 census. Originally incorporated as a village, it became a city in ...
on
Labor Day
Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...
. It is the last leg of the AQHA Triple Crown that has only been won once, by Special Effort in 1981. A $4 million bonus was once offered to the horse that could sweep all three Triple Crown races. It started in 1959, with a purse of $129,686.85.
[Ruidoso Downs History of the All American Futurity]
accessed on September 24, 2007 It has always billed itself as the richest race in American Quarter Horse racing;
[Wiggins ''Great American Speedhorse'' p. 59-65] in 1978, the purse was over a million dollars and in 1982, the winner's portion of the purse totaled over a million dollars for the first time. The 1980 edition was carried live in prime-time on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
. The 2020 version of the race will have a purse of $3,000,000 with the winners share being $1,500,000, making it one of the richest races in North America.
[
The track record was set at this race in 2006, when No Secrets Here finished in 20.886 seconds for 440 yards, for an average speed of 43.091 miles/hr.
]
Winners by year
References
Further reading
* Wiggins, Walt ''The Great American Speedhorse: A Guide to Quarter Racing'' New York: Sovereign Books 1978
External links
Video of the first All American Futurity in 1959
Ruidoso Downs History of the All American Futurity
accessed on September 24, 2007
{{short description, Race for two-year-old Quarter Horses in New Mexico, US
Horse races in New Mexico
Sports in New Mexico
1959 establishments in New Mexico
Recurring sporting events established in 1959