The DMR trials have become a player-led annual event that seems to get bigger every year. This year has seen over 100 vouchers donated as a prize fund giving these two-year-old trials a prize of over $1,000.000 value, now the third-biggest prize fund behind two BC races for two-year-olds.

The fact that this event takes part before any of the horses have seen a race is unique and certainly offers a chance to those precocious horses who can often burn out before the end of the year.

Last year’s dirt winner was Elle trained and bred by Wood Duck Stables and a prime example of a horse whose biggest win came before it even raced. She is still active and has been stakes placed, so has done better than many that came before her but after two years of racing, she is still to match the winning total that she achieved in the trials.

Falcon was the turf champ, bred and then owned by Smokey Stover he has since been sold by the owner after running in claimers. Like Elle, he too won on debut underlining the precociousness needed rather than the class or ability and he too faded a little into the background as his career progressed.

When these trials first started, they were an ideal opportunity to showcase future stars and the top finishers often changed hands for large amounts but as the years have gone by, the community has come to realize these are not necessarily an indication of racing ability. They have morphed into a special division all of their own.

So, in a way without the expectation that any of the top finishers will be much better than a debut winner it has become unique at HRP as an event that is what it is, a fun distraction before the serious business of racing, development and class makes a soup of cloudy meatballs.

Huge thanks from the community must go to Barcelona Farms for organizing this year’s trials, a concept that was born from the Jerry Garcia mind that continued past a “one-off” and has been handed down to the current organizer as a yearly event everyone looks forward to.

This year a total of 2775 un-raced two-year-olds took part in the event and let’s just pause at that figure for a moment. They are the result of TWO breeding sessions out of five at HRP available to yearlings and two-year-olds and bearing in mind this is a long way from all the two-year-olds bred it is a remarkable total. Even at $10 per horse that figure represents nearly $28,000 of income and if you consider stallion and mare fees over and above that figure it certainly shows that not only is the population healthy, but the game’s income is strong. Good news for all of us.

So let’s look at the winners as of midnight on the day of the trials:

On the dirt, we saw Cross Traffic take the top spot for D J C Racing. He certainly has found his feet going on his three public works, improving each time from 1.00 and 3 last month to 1.00 flat for today. His stallion is Liberty Valance an eight-year-old now with stakes-winning form as a three-year-old, his most successful prodigy is Hiei the BEL winner and an out-and-out stayer and in fact, he does seem to inspire stamina in most of his offspring. His mare was a poor racer as is sometimes the case and only managed a maiden win at TUP in her racing career, she has only dropped two foals, and neither has raced.
Interestingly Cross Traffic does have a conformation that suggests he will be running over longer trips which certainly adds to his value considering this work was the best of thousands over a five-furlong trip. Still, an entire I feel he may buck the trend as far as winners of the DMR trial go and turn out to be a decent KYD prospect going forward.

In the second spot in the dirt section was White Wolf from Tockyocky. The trainer had been selling old stock at a rate of knots and had clearly reinvested that income into their breeding career producing a remarkable effort from a filly who had gone slower than this with a jockey just a month ago. Out of Stark, a seven-year-old who was a stakes winner and interestingly bred by D J C Racing she is only 15.1hh so she has plenty of potential. The sire has yet to produce any superstars but certainly has more to go on than the mare who was a SUD maiden claimer winner and never won again. She has produced 5 foals for three wins all at the lower grade. Like the winner of the trials, White Wolf seems to have a conformation that points towards a longer trip which is an interesting trait for these two considering the winners of the trials normally have more of a speed bias.

Billy Hardcastle was in third just a few hundredths behind and he had a more traditional look being a gelding who stands at 16.1hh and whose conformation leans towards speed. By Techfluence Heat out of the great Techfluence and out of a seven-race winning mare this was a good result for the stable who secured Joint fourth as well as being the only stable out of all the big breeders to get two inside the top ten.

Onto the turf, we saw Free Casino at the top of the list. Owned and bred by Team 7 Illusions he is an entire who stands at 15.1hh and has had a busy time in the lead-up to the trial one wonders with a 1.00 and 2 dirt work just how far up the list he would’ve been had he gone to the dirt. By Cherokee Devil who is a son of Cherokee Sunset who was bought by the owner as a replacement for the grand-sire for $500.000 in mid-2023. The BC Sprint winner of 2022 this stallion looks a very nice prospect as he moves on to his second year in his new career. The dam, I Want Justice only won a maiden claimer but was stakes placed so adds to this runner’s pedigree nicely.

In second spot was Jet Goddess owned and bred by Arkansas Elite, a filly who broke the 1.00 and was only two hundredths behind the winner. Her conformation isn’t too pretty and she is out of a stable sire called Con Will Con who only raced once and was beaten nineteen lengths. The dam was a little better but still didn’t win a race and this match-up certainly proves that you don’t need a big barn or successful parents to produce a fast foal.

In third was a first appearance in this write-up for our champion breeder Mb Stables with their gelded son of Comanche who was bred by El Primero Rodeo. Again just two hundredths behind and under the 1.00 he was bought for $60 and has been working well enough in public on the dirt to suggest he would have been well up there on either surface. Built like a traditional turfer his sire is an un-raced son of Cherokee Sunset who continues to be a turf influence, this is his first season as a sire. As usual so it seems his Dam was pretty poor as a racer running twice and not placing so it is clear this one got most of his ability from the sire’s side.

Here are the top ten results for both dirt and turf:

DIRT

1 Cross Traffic D J C Racing Stables c. 2 B 1:00.02
2 White Wolf Tockyocky f. 2 B 1:00.04
3 Billy Hardcastle The Sidley Stud g. 2 B 1:00.08
4 Gator Bait Jive Inc. f. 2 B 1:00.12
4 Norman Clegg The Sidley Stud c. 2 B 1:00.12
6 Apache Raincloud Iolaus Racing f. 2 B 1:00.14
6 White Collar Crime Maletto g. 2 B 1:00.14
8 Fisherville Team 7 Illusions c. 2 B 1:00.18
9 Yankee Hanny Jive Inc c. 2 B 1:00.19
10 Miss Laie Arindel f. 2 B 1:00.21

TURF

1 Free Casino Team 7 Illusions c. 2 B 59.76
2 Jet Goddess Arkansas Elite f. 2 B 59.78
3 Comanche Smoke Mb Stables g. 2 B 59.80
4 Resentful Artist Big Guns Stables f. 2 B 59.81
5 Elite Greyskull Mb Stables f. 2 B 59.89
6 Sister Chief Arkansas Elite f. 2 B 59.92
7 Prevailed Team 7 Illusions c. 2 B 59.93
8 Total Stud Mo Mentum Farm c. 2 B 59.95
9 Mean Girl D J C Racing Stables f. 2 B 59.96
10 Rounded Action Asgar f. 2 B 59.97

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