SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Aug. 24, 2019) – Yadi 1 and jockey Uriel Cervantes have been consistent for nearly a year of racing but getting to the winner’s circle for the big races has eluded them until Saturday, Aug. 24. The duo rallied hard on the outside to catch race favorite WRs Valentino in the final stride, winning the 20th running of the $76,506 Quarter Horse Racing Association (QHRAI) Stallion Service Auction (SSA) Derby in a time of :19.971 seconds.
Owned, bred and trained by Randy Thompson, Yadi 1 was the second fastest qualifier from the trials behind Ja B Valiant. He drew the extreme outside post 10 in the race and would have to deal with the standout sophomore WRs Valentino from the inside post two. Wrs Valentino and Berkley Packer wasted no time getting the jump on the field and grabbing the lead as expected. The big gelding had control of the race and kept the field at bay throughout. In the final stages of the race, Yadi 1 and Cervantes began to make up serious ground, closing in quickly on the big strided WRs Valentino to score the victory by three-quarters of a length. Coronados Quiksilver and Fernando Morin finished third.
“He (Yadi 1) got a little shy when we got up toward the crowd on the outside,” said Cervantes. “I switched my stick and he seemed to understand we weren’t done yet and he picked it up and went on. Even though it was close, I had a lot of confidence in him and thought he would get to the wire first.”
The victory for Yadi 1 was the third of the year in seven starts. The homebred son of Wave Carver has only missed the board once this season, showing his consistency. The only time he didn’t hit the board he was without his regular pilot Cervantes, who has a special bond with the horse.
“Ever since I started working for Randy (Thompson) last year, I started bonding with this horse,” said Cervantes, who scored the biggest win of his career aboard Yadi 1. “He has a great personality and he is a main reason I’m up in the mornings. I go directly into his stall when I get here. After every race, I go in the test barn to see him. Abe (Thompson’s other starter in the QHRAI SSA Derby) gets along with everyone, but he (Yadi 1) doesn’t. This win sure is something special.”
The win was also special for the Thompson family. They felt Yadi 1 had potential and just gave him time to develop.
“He (Yadi 1) is actually running this year like I thought he would last year,” said Thompson. “He just had a little bad luck last year. He’s a great horse to be around. He loves his job and he likes to train and race. He’s a pretty special horse.”
Thompson, who is ranked fourth on the list of all-time leading owners at Indiana Grand, is no stranger to success in Indiana. He holds the record for most money ever recorded by an owner in one season from his 2013 campaign. He also has two leading owner titles to his credit at the Shelbyville, Ind. track and has experienced a lot of wins over the 17-year history of the track from horses bred and raised on his farm in Brazil, Ind.
“We used to have four or five brood mares and every year we would pick out a theme to name our horses after,” said Thompson. “The year Yadi 1 was born, we had a baseball theme. My grandsons are big St. Louis Cardinals fans, so we named this colt Yadi after Yadier Molina. We had to add the ‘1’ because Yadi was already taken. The other two were named Johnny B after Johnny Bench and Yogi B. after Yogi Berra. The fourth one was Abe, and he was born on Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, so we named him after him.”
Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing continues through Wednesday, Nov. 6. Racing is conducted Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 2:15 p.m. and Saturday at 6:15 p.m.
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