Paint Racing Comes up a Winner at Michigan's

First Paint Horse Futurity

FORT WORTH-Lines Of Power lit up Michigan's Mount Pleasant Meadows racetrack recently with a commanding victory in the state's first-ever Paint Horse Futurity. The two-year-old stallion made history at the July 29th race by becoming the Wolverine state's first winner of all-Paint-Horse stakes racing competition.

Born and raised in Michigan, Lines Of Power picked up more than $5,800 in earnings with the victory for owners Jack Geer and Tom Dunlap of Weidman, Mich. Dunlap also trained the horse.

The debut of all-Paint-Horse stakes racing in Michigan was made possible with the passage of state legislation last summer allowing Paint racing. Following the bill's passage, State of Michigan Racing Commissioner Annette Bacola approved an order in August 2000 that amended the Mixed Race Meeting License at Mount Pleasant Meadows. Prior to the amendment, only Quarter Horses, Arabians, Appaloosas and Thoroughbreds had been allowed to race at the track.

The track is also hosting mixed-breed racing this year. The Michigan Racing Commissioner also approved mixed-breed racing at another track, Great Lakes Downs in Muskegon.

"There is a lot of excitement in Michigan for Paint Racing," said American Paint Horse Association (APHA) Racing Director Lex Smurthwaite, who attended the historic race. "We fully expect to see more American Paint Horses racing here in the upcoming years." Based in Fort Worth, Texas, the APHA has registered more than 616,000 American Paint Horses since it was founded in 1962.

As an incentive for the competition, APHA contributed $1,000 in added money to the $14,000-plus total race purse. "We were glad to join such a dedicated group of people in Michigan who worked hard to make Paint racing a reality."

Robert Berryhill, director of racing at Mount Pleasant Meadows, which had the distinction of being the venue for the historic race, foresees a great future for Paint racing at the track.

"We have a lot of trainers here wanting to find Paints and buy Paints. They think this is a market that has been untapped, and I think so, too.

"There have been a lot of Paints in Michigan, but not a lot of them were running," said Berryhill, adding, "we'll definitely see an increase now."

A total of 16 states now feature Paint racing. Paint Horses currently run in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

When the APHA officially recognized the sport in 1966, only Texas and Oklahoma held races. That year, 17 starters ran for $1,290.

In 1996, 305 starters ran in 272 races for purse money of $1.1 million. In 2000, 553 starters competed in 531 races for a gross purse of nearly $2.8 million. During those five years, starters were up 81 percent, the number of races increased 95 percent and purse money grew 146 percent. Also during that five-year period, six new states entered the Paint racing picture.

APHA attributes the increases to several factors, including the growing popularity of the Paint Horse breed in general. Last year, for example, APHA registered 62,511 horses, compared to 41,491 horses registered in 1996. That represents a 51-percent annual registration increase over five years. In addition, more tracks across the country are hosting Paint racing, which is driving up purse totals and attracting more Paint racers, according to APHA.

For more information on American Paint Horse racing, visit www.apha.com/racing or call the APHA Racing Department at (817) 834-2742, extension 444.

Paint racing takes off

Year Starters Races States with

Paint Racing Total Purse

2000 553 531 16 $2.8 million

1999 503 367 12 $2.1 million

1998 416 331 12 $1.8 million

1997 320 265 11 $1.4 million

1996 305 272 10 $1.1 million