SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Sept. 14, 2019) – It’s always the ultimate experience to win a race, but victory just got a little sweeter for trainer John McCreary Saturday, Sept. 14. The Tennessee native swept the trials of the Sterlie Bertram Memorial and both winners were longshots as Valiantinecandyrocks and One Smart Jess scored wins in their respective trials.
Valiantinecandyrocks kicked off the first trial with a near gate to wire effort, rallying out of the gate quickly to be in contention for the lead the entire 400-yard distance. The Valiant Hero filly fought off late attempts by her opponents to pull in the win by one-half length in :20.157, the fastest trial of the night. Abe and Uriel Cervantes finished second over Stoneburner and Berkley Packer for third. The win was the first of three on the card for jockey Jose Beltran.
Owned by Tammy and Lance Finlinson of Greenwood, Ind., Valiantinecandyrocks paid $12.60, $4.00 and $5.20 across the board. The win marked the third of the season in eight starts for the lightly raced sophomore, who only ran twice as a two-year-old.
“’VV’ (Valiantinecandyrocks has always been my favorite ever since she was a baby,” said Finlinson, who is the breeder of the black filly along with his wife, Tammy. “We didn’t race her very much last year and she seems to be getting better with every start this year. We are tickled at her performance tonight.”
McCreary headed to the paddock for the second trial to prepare One Smart Jess for his Bertram trial. Once again ridden by Beltran, the One Sweet Jess gelding had drawn the outside post and was overlooked by the public as he loaded in the gate. As soon as the gates sprung, Beltran had the sorrel gelding on top to lead the way to the wire, winning by a neck over Cause for Corona and Gerardo Garrido with Nacho Binez and Fernando Morin finishing third. The time of the trial was :20.334 seconds.
Another longshot, One Smart Jess paid $13.60, $7.80, $3.60 across the board. It was his second win in five starts for 2019 and his fourth win overall for Jeff Bennell and John Murphy’s Brushy Valley Farm. A stakes winner at two, One Smart Jess has in excess of $50,000 now on his card.
“This horse (One Smart Jess) started out the year with a win in a tough allowance and came back to finish second in another tough allowance,” said McCreary. “Then he had some bad luck. He stumbled really bad out of the gate in his next two starts. I though all along he was good enough to be a contender, but so is Valiantinecandyrocks. She will give ‘Jess’ a run for his money in the final. They are both the right kind to be right there for the final.”
The full field of qualifiers for the $100,000 Sterlie Bertram Memorial Final set for Saturday, Sept. 28, in order of times with jockeys includes: Valiantinecandyrocks (Jose Beltran, :20.157); Abe (Uriel Cervantes, :20.247); One Smart Jess (Jose Beltran, :20.334); Cause for Corona (Gerardo Garrido, :20.376); Nacho Binez (Fernando Morin, :20.475); RK The Magician (German Rodriguez, :20.482); Stoneburner (Berkley Packer, :20.484); Rarely a Tres (L.D. Martinez, :20.508); Get Used to Me (L.D. Martinez, :20.731); and I Like Beer (Oscar Macias, :20.855). In addition to McCreary saddling multiple horses for the final, trainer Tony Cunningham will saddle three in the Bertram final, RK The Magician, Rarely a Tres, and Get Used to Me.
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