Horse racing in South Dakota ended Memorial Day weekend at Aberdeen. The first big race of the weekend was contested on Saturday, May 23 in the 6th race with the running of the SD Bred Quarter Horse Derby at 350 yards. The race required no trials with only 7 horses entered. Proud Royal Shakem again showed he was up to the competition with a time of 17.80 and a 101 speed index. Owned by Alan Ham, by Royal Shake Em and out of the Proudest Effort mare, Baby Do Us Proud, the gelding was trained by Bob Johnson and ridden by Jake Olesiak. Following closely behind was Dahing Meteror, owned by John G. Johnson and also trained by Bob Johnson.
In third was Smashingly Classic, another Bob Johnson trained horse.

On May 24th, also with no trials, the NAHR Open Quarter Horse Futurity was run at 300 yards with Blue Spruce Scramble coming up ahead. Owned and trained by Jim Fleming, and going off at odds of 6 to 1, the gelding paid $6.00 for a win ticket. In second was Original Ovation, trained by Bob Johnson and in third was the favored Camas Swale, trained by Ernest Fennell.
The sixth race of the day brought up the Thoroughbred NAHR Sprint Stakes won by Happy Guy. Happy Guy combines the popular South Dakota bloodlines of Crafty Ridan and Red Monk. He was owned by Loreta Wiese and trained by Raymond Sauerwein. In second was Notlock, owned and trained by Darren Ducheneaux, and third was Harbour Axe, owned and trained by Susan Olson.

The final day of racing saw several big races being run on the last day of racing in South Dakota for the year. In Race 3 was the Thoroughbred Futurity for 2 yr olds. Leading the way was Long Live Cowboys, owned by Off 2 Win, and trained and bred by Ardell Sayler. In second was Whatcha Gonna Do also trained by Ardell Sayler and owned by Off 2 Win. In third was the Bob Johnson trained Little Tillie, owned and bred by Wayne Simon.

The 5th race of the day saw the only Quarter Horse race that required trials, the SD Bred Futurity. This race was a hard fought battle between the favored Tentation and the long shot, Larks Merridoc. Larks Merridoc prevailed for the win by a head. The colt, by Class of China and out of Larks Miss Jet, was owned and bred by Tom Anderberg and trained by Bob Johnson. Number two, Tentation, also a Bob Johnson trainee, is owned by Hank Bowker. In third was Bella Special, owned by Lyman Chase and trained by Vic Hanson.

The order of finish was:
1. Larks Merridoc
2. Tentation
3. Bella Special
4. Chicks Brief Case
5. Two Coronas
6. Okey Dokey Dakota (fastest in trials)
7. Oklahoma Krash
8. Tm Confectionary

The sixth race of the day was the Thoroughbred Derby for 3 yr olds. Ally Scatter, the favored horse in the race, didn’t disappoint by living up to the prebilling and came in first. He was followed by Borazi in 2nd and Da Fuzz in 3rd. Ally Scatter was again owned and trained by the popular team of Off 2 Win and Ardell Sayler. Second place was trained by Bob Johnson and third also by Ardell Sayler.

- 2009 Schedule -

Ft. Pierre, South Dakota
Stanley Country Fairgrounds
• April 11
• April 18-19
• April 25-26
• May 2-3

Northeast Area Horse Racing
Aberdeen, SD - Brown County Fairgrounds
• May 9-10
• May 16-17
• May 23-25

-Download 2009 Condition Book-

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