(Friday, July 11, 2008) - A late surge at the end of the race put Lightning Round first in the TQHA Sires’ Cup Futurity (RG2) at Sam Houston Race Park tonight. Lightning Round, a two-year-old gelding owned by Bobby Cox, was the fastest qualifier in trials run at The Park on opening day, June 26, completing his 350-yard trial in :17.806. He returned tonight and captured the final in a close finish, crossing the wire in :17.934.

Although rider Russel Hadley didn’t qualify the gelding, this was not their first pairing. “I didn't have him in the trials, but I had ridden him previously. I've always liked this horse,” commented the winning jockey.

Hadley was the second leading rider last summer at The Park. He captured two stakes in the 2007 Sam Houston meet and grabbed his first tonight for the 2008 meeting. This win seemed like an easy task for Hadley. He commented, "[Lightning Round] ran a perfect race, he was wild in the gate, but dug in and gave 110% the whole time.”

Trainer John Buchanan has had his share of champions throughout his career in the Quarter Horse industry. Buchanan is fifth in the all-time trainer’s standings at The Park, with 175 wins from 872 starters. The Cox and Buchanan team have worked together for many years, bringing Quarter Horses to the winner’s circle on a regular basis.

Lightning Round captured the top slot in the trial races, and Buchanan was confident going into the final but quick to point out that, "there were nine other good horses in this race.” He commented on his winning horse, saying, “He is maturing into a big, bulky kind of a horse, and he's gotten much better in the last few months. He had a clean trip, didn't get bumped around. He's always tried to get to the front, but sometimes he just couldn't get there. But he's a good gelding.”

Noting that jockey Dewey Smith took the reins in the trial race, Buchanan also made sure to thank both of his winning jockeys, stating, “We really appreciated Dewey [Smith] getting him qualified and thank Russel [Hadley] for a stellar ride tonight.”

MWS Sugar Sand, trained by Levi Mays and ridden by Manuel Garcia, ran second with a time of :17.955. The ninth fastest qualifier in the trials ran impressively tonight for owners R.W. Jones and Michael Washington. Following in third was Forspeed Breezer, trained by Eusevio Huitron, owned by Armanda Cortez and ridden by Salvador Perez.

Following tonight’s 10 trial races for the $100,000 TQHA Sales Futurity to be run on Saturday, July 26 and the TQHA Sires’ Cup Futurity race were performances by Texas-country musicians Aaron Watson and Cory Morrow.

$100,000 + TQHA Sale Futurity Trials
Trials: Friday, July 11, 2008
Final: Saturday, July 26, 2008
Two-Year-Olds 350 Yards