WRs Apolliticalivory remains undefeated in 2020 with QHRAI Derby win

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Oct. 24, 2020) – He’s been the talk of the track all year and WRs Apolliticalivory lived up to all the hype, winning the 24th running of the $121,880 QHRAI Derby during the final All-Quarter Horse racing program of 2020 at Indiana Grand. The race was one of four stakes on the card and is one of three inaugural pari-mutuel stakes from the first season of racing at Hoosier Park in 1997. Starting with a purse of $10,000, the 2020 purse marked a new all-time high for the event.

Starting from outside portion of starting gate in post eight of the 9-horse lineup, WRs Apolliticalivory was not the first horse to capture the attention of racing fans in the 400-yard dash. The Apollitical Blood three-year-old, ridden by Sammy Mendez, broke well but was even with most of the field. Flyweight Carver and Juan Marquez emerged with a slight advantage early on that turned out to be a bigger advantage as the wire neared. WRs Apolliticalivory seemed to be unable to gain any ground, but a few taps of the whip by Mendez got the big impressive gelding in gear, striding up for the win by a head in the final jump in a time of :19.985 seconds. Flyweight Carver was a clear-cut second place finisher over Merciless Fire and Juan Cruz, who finished third.

Owned and bred by Gwen and Randy Williams’ Williams Racing Stable of LaCenter, Ky., WRs Apolliticalivory completes his three-year-old campaign at Indiana Grand with a perfect record of five for five. It was his second stakes win of the year and more than $155,000 of his career bankroll of more than $200,000 has been recorded this season. Randy Smith trains WRs Apolliticalivory.

“When you have a racehorse, you have a racehorse,” said Smith in a post-race interview with Martha Claussen, nationally known Quarter Horse racing analyst. “He comes ready to do his job every time. He trains well, but on race days, he’s always ready to get out there and hit the gates.”

Although the Williams no longer have his mother, they have been excited about WRs Apolliticalivory from the start.

“I’ve always liked this horse,” said Randy Williams. “After he won both his first starts last year, I really liked him. His older sister had a really bad crooked foot and we gave her away, but then along came Ivory. It’s very chilly out here today, but I’m not cold anymore.”

Photos by Coady Photography