With endorsements from two of the top figures in quarter horse racing, the future would appear bright for Mighty B Valiant and trainer Raymond Vargas.
The 1-2 favorite overcame a sluggish start Saturday night to win the $780,000 Remington Park Futurity by 3/4 of a length over Folly Del Rey. Send Me a Candy Tree finished third. Mighty B Valiant covered the 330 yards in 16.739 seconds on a fast track.
Veteran jockey G.R. Carter won the race for the fifth time - and the third time in the past five years - before exiting the horse by doing a backflip, much like NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Carl Edwards exits his car after winning a race. Then Carter - the top money winner ever among quarter horse jockeys - made a bold statement, saying Mighty B Valiant ''might be one of the best horses I've ever rode.''
Carter's not the only respected figure in the industry who likes the strapping 2-year-old chestnut son of Valiant Hero. Vargas spent many years as an assistant to legendary trainer Jack Brooks, who also has given his stamp of approval to the horse.
Vargas appeared on the verge of tears while he was in the winner's circle after the race. After years of working as an assistant to Brooks and Paul Jones, Vargas struck out on his own this year and came up with, quite possibly, the horse of a lifetime.
''I've been blessed,'' he said. ''I've worked around a lot of good people. I've been blessed with a lot of good horses and this is probably one of my best horses, and I've been around some good ones.''
Mighty B Valiant - owned by You and Me Partners of Lawton - was the fastest qualifier for the 10-horse race, which this year for the first time was limited to Oklahoma-bred horses. It's the most lucrative state-bred futurity in the U.S.
In his first career race - the qualifier for Saturday's race - Mighty B Valiant won by 2 3/4 lengths, a rout in a sport in which many races are decided by photo finishes. Carter said deciding to ride the colt in Saturday's race was easy.
''He has shown me he's just a phenomenal animal,'' Carter said. ''It seems like that's what it took for me to win the race tonight was a horse like this. ... He is really special.''
Mighty B Valiant didn't break sharp from the starting gate and appeared out of contention until beginning to surge about halfway through the race. Gobbling up ground with long, fluid strides in the stretch, he muscled past the leaders with room to spare.
''He just made a big run at the end,'' Carter said.
Mighty B Valiant paid $3, $2.60 and $2.40. Folly Del Ray paid $24.40 and $8.60 while Send Me a Candy Tree paid $3.60.
Carter predicted Mighty B Valiant will eventually run at Ruidoso Downs, home of the All American Futurity on Labor Day. Vargas didn't want to commit to that quite yet but certainly thinks his horse compares favorably to other top 2-year-olds.
''We've got a horse that if he stays together, he showed tonight, he's got talent. If he comes out of this race good, we've got a shot.
''We're going to have some fun with him.''
