Photo from the Stojan Quarter Horses Facebook page.

By Curtis Galbraith

Horse Racing

Locally-owned horse will look to continue record winning streak at Evergreen Park this summer

Jun 28, 2020 | 7:00 AM

The attempt to extend a North American record winning streak for quarter horses will continue sometime this summer at Evergreen Park.

The Canadian Quarter Horse Association says nine-year-old Free Thought, owned by Sexsmith’s Stojan Quarter Horses, has won 17 straight races.

Owner Chuck Stojan says the plan was to race in Lethbridge this spring, but that was wiped out by the pandemic. He doesn’t know when the Grande Prairie race might happen.

“We know there is a stakes race in August that suits him and then there’s two more in the fall at Century Mile that suits him. Whether something comes in the meantime, the right race, then he’ll race. He could be racing any time form the middle of July until the middle of August, in Grande Prairie, at least.”

Stojan acquired Free Thought in a claiming race in Los Alamitos, California. while looking for a three-year-old to run in the derbies at Evergreen Park.

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Stojan adds Free Thought was a pretty good horse running straight sprints, but started his winning streak after he started going into longer races and learning to run around the turn.

“He’s been winning races for three-and-a-half years now and not getting beat. Every time we run him (we wonder) ‘Is this the day he’ll get beat? Is this the day that somebody’ll maybe be faster than him?’ or he’ll get a bad start or whatever can happen. He just keeps winning and winning. My son Jerry just says ‘Oh, don’t worry, Dad, there’s nothing that can outrun him if he gets out decent.” and I say ‘I kinds know that, but you never know.'”

Free Thought’s jockey is Rickey Moreno and his trainer is William Leech. The horse’s nickname is Big Ed

The Evergreen Park race meet will start July 11. There will be no spectators but watching and betting on the races can be done online.

Stojan says he has 10 horses stabled at Evergreen Park getting ready to run this summer.

As for the horse racing season in general, Stojan May and June were shut down by the pandemic. he says quarter horses usually run in May and June in Lethbridge, July and August in Grande Prairie, and then at Century Downs near Calgary in September and October. The fall races will now go to Century Mile in Edmonton.

Besides that, races are getting shifted around and dates are being changed.