1
Shit.
How you all are?
This is KFAW, Erath, Louisiana...
coonass country.
And now we gonna play some Dr. John.
A reminder horse fans!
In three weeks' time, we have the
annual Cajun Quarter Horse Classic...
for any quarter horse, any age,
born in Louisiana.
The distance, one quarter mile.
The purse, $1300.
That's the 23rd of this month,
horsemen.
Come along and get your horse
entered today.
Mr. Beaudry wants to match
his coonass steed...
to anything 3 years old or over.
Two horses for the price of one.
Anybody want it?
That's settled. Anybody want them?
Poke around.
Clear the rails.
Clear the rails.
You got it! You got it! You got it!
Come on, baby!
Come on, baby!
Wanna play pool?
Nickel a game?
- No.
- Checkers?
I'm broke, Casey.
We could pitch pennies.
I could loan you a penny.
We could keep a tab.
Are you riding Jimmy Collard's filly
in the fifth?
- What of it?
- She's a good one.
She lame. I don't want you
riding a lame horse.
Hey, Dad,
she got no competition.
She's gonna win.
She's gonna win easy.
She shouldn't run. Run a hurting horse,
the legs break down. You'll kill it.
- I don't want you part of it!
- Part of what?
- None of your business.
- I bet five.
- When's Buddy coming home?
- You ain't riding that horse.
Buddy be home Monday, squirrel,
with a nice little colt, I hope.
Hey, coonass.
What do you say?
Hey, Mr. Marsh. When they
let you out of New Mexico...
and what they set the bail at?
Been here since last week.
Can I have a beer, please?
I heard you were training
for Tom Patterson.
How come you're not staying
in Ruidoso this summer?
I got six of his horses at Evangeline.
Six old nags that couldn't cut it
at Ruidoso.
- I'll bet you 20.
- About like that, yeah.
Have you got your kid
a decent horse yet?
Why?
You got something to sell?
I'll match anything you got her on.
Lloyd, you haven't had anything
with speed since your wife ran off.
You got it.
Come on, Mr. Marsh.
- Where you going?
- Doing a little business out here.
What kind of business?
Here she is.
- What?
- This is it.
- You want to match me with that?
- With that.
What distance?
At 200 yards,
Gypsy could beat the wrath of God.
Kelly, honey, come over here.
Okay, you're on.
That horse is at least six hands
taller than Gypsy, Dad.
Well, look, Kelly's heavier.
Look at this here.
That mare's built like la machine.
$100, 200 yards.
Is that too steep for you?
Come on.
- Don't do it.
- What do you say, Casey?
At 200 yards, Gypsy could beat
anything on four legs.
- All right. $200 to 100.
- That's the bet.
Running the rails.
Next race ain't for an hour. Let's go.
Come on.
Come on, Lloyd.
I don't suppose you know
how to play pool.
I only play for money.
Same here.
Where you heading after Evangeline?
Oh, Sunland Park, some of the Texas
futurities. You know.
Patterson pay for all that moving?
You kidding?
He got us a mobile home.
That's no life for that little girl,
unsettled like that.
Hey, there they go!
Jesus Christ!
Goddamn it, Bourdelle. A live jockey.
Come on.
Well, that's your best live jockey
in the business.
You'll get your money
sooner out of a rock, boy.
I know.
Kelly!
Let's go to New Orleans and blow it
on broads and booze!
He let him get away without paying.
He didn't do anything. Just stood there.
You gotta be kidding.
I can't help it.
I don't want to lose Eagle Leader.
Put him in the lowest claiming level
and get rid of him.
I don't believe this is
the right time, Calvin.
But I'm tired of supporting him.
Run him for 800.
I believe that that horse can win
at a $1200 level.
There's a race like that next week.
You want to keep him around
to collect the training fee.
I want to lose him.
Calvin, what you lack is faith.
No, what I lack is cash.
Welcome home!
Hey, man!
How you doing?
- Hev, Squirrel!
- Hey, Buddy!
You been keeping out of trouble?
Mostly, I guess.
Some of the time.
Yeah, I bet.
I'll race you to the gate.
Buddy!
Watch out, kid.
Watch out, Casey. Goddamn it!
Okay-
Take this in the house.
These are for you.
- Hi, Buddy.
- Dad. Calvin.
- How'd the truck do?
- Good.
Burns some oil. Aside from that,
runs real good.
Better be something with speed.
It will be.
Buddy's no fool.
Okay, mama, let's go.
Easy.
Holy gumbo mess!
A 2-year-old I wanted.
What am I gonna do with
a 100-year-old brooding mare?
I could've bought you a colt, Calvin.
But I come across this deal,
and I just couldn't pass it up.
I wouldn't have given you money if I'd
known you wasn't going there yourself.
I'm telling you, man,
this mare is the buy of the century.
1800 is all I had to pay, Calvin.
Here's your change, your papers.
Take a look.
Look, that money was for a colt
that I can run this year.
I'm taking y'all to court.
That's what I'm doing.
Dad, she's in foal to Sure Hit.
She's in foal to Sure Hit.
- Where does it say that?
- Right there.
Is that this animal?
- 363233.
- That's it.
It matches. I'll be damned.
Wait a minute, Buddy. Wait.
Costs $6000 just to breed to Sure Hit.
So? Man's a crook.
He was also drunk.
But he signed the papers.
It's a valid sale.
What kind of crook?
Did he steal the semen?
Yeah, that's close.
These papers all right?
They're all right.
I checked them out myself.
You know what this means, Calvin?
Come here.
Sure Hit is the finest producing
stud alive.
There's never been a Sure Hit foal
in Louisiana, ever.
And Buddy has got you one coming
for a lousy $1800.
This is the buy of the century.
I guarantee that.
I can't see it. All I can see,
two years this mare will be in your barn.
Two years the mare and the colt will be
out there eating, and I gotta pay for it.
All my money going out
and none coming in.
Fine. We'll give you the 1800 back
right now, Calvin, right this instant.
Yeah.
1900. That's $100 profit
in two minutes.
You can't do better than that.
Take it, Calvin.
You'll be doing us a favor, man.
No, you don't have no $1900.
Look, if this is some kind of hustle,
you and me are finished.
And I'm taking all of my horses
out of your barn, and I mean it.
This is not a hustle?
Daddy, this mare's in foal to Sure Hit.
"T-H-E. The."
"C-H-I-L-D. Child.
The child." Got that?
Gotta be some changes
made around here.
Yeah.
Like somebody aside from me
is gonna clean up this stink hole.
I'm leaving home at 4:30 a.m.,
every a.m.
I'm at the track 5 to 9, exercising.
School from 9 to 3.
And back at the track from 7 p.m. to 11.
Be 106 before I get laid.
Count your blessings.
"The child."
Read that, please.
I need some time off.
Take time off and Casey goes
to school without shoes.
You ought to go on welfare.
Welfare's for lazy bums.
I'd sell my private parts to medical
research before I went on welfare.
"The child."
What do you mean, you can't?
That's easy.
- "Child."
- There are no plates!
How the hell am I supposed to
put dinner on the table...
without no goddamn plates?
Randy put them in the bathtub.
Randy, you dumb ass!
I'm gonna kill you, boy!
- Come here, coonass!
- Kick his ass!
Come on, Buddy!
Come on, Buddy!
- You'll get it now, coonass!
- Get him, Buddy!
- Come on, Buddy. Get him!
- Goddamn it!
No!
Come on, Buddy!
Come on, Buddy!
Kick his ass!
Dunk him, Buddy!
Dunk him, Buddy.
All right!
Well, home free.
Almost.
Dad, her gums are white.
Call the vet.
Call him!
She's bleeding inside.
I don't know.
She may not make it.
He's at another call.
He can't come.
Four white socks.
Isn't that my luck?
- Well, is the mare gonna die?
- No!
It probably is.
No!
Is the colt gonna live?
"One, you buy him.
Two, you try him.
Three, you pass him.
Four white socks
and a sniveling nose...
cut off his hide,
feed him to the crows."
Why?
White socks mean white hooves.
White hooves are softer than
black hooves.
Split sooner running.
You mean we're just gonna
let him die?
Collard's got a mare with a colt
ready to be weaned.
I don't know how much milk
she's got left.
Be better than nothing.
I've seen colts kicked to death
by foster mamas.
Maybe a draft mare.
Maybe the colt's got a chance
to survive with a draft mare.
But we need a mare now.
Colt ought to be on its feet and nursing
within an hour of being birthed.
And that little guy's been
lying there, what, five hours.
We could use Gypsy.
You can't raise a racehorse
off a pony, squirrel.
Remember Manly Choice?
He was raised off a draft mare.
Had so much milk...
he used to walk around
with his belly out to here.
Had to rest for an hour after eating
just to be able to walk.
Never amounted to much, though.
Often, colts never do.
Gypsy will make enough milk.
And she won't kick him to death.
She'll love him, and that's important.
Why can't you raise a racehorse
off a pony?
Okay, keep her steady, kid.
Gypsy, you gotta.
He's gonna die.
Thattaboy.
Easy now.
Come on!
Let's go see mama.
Come on.
Come on.
Come on. Let's go.
Let's go see mama. Come on.
Thattaboy.
Come on.
Thattaboy. Easy, Gyp!
Thattaboy.
There you go.
Real good.
Good girl, Gypsy.
Good girl.
All right.
What's his problem?
He wants his mother.
He's working real good.
Watch this.
Casey taught him this yesterday.
How old...?
Are you watching this?
I'm watching this.
Hey, how old are you, kid?
Dig it. Dig.
Thattaboy!
You see that?
Okay, take a bow. Take a bow.
Thattaboy.
You're gonna have to sell him
as a overgrown dog, you know.
What do you mean?
Well, you guys are playing with him
all the time.
Gotta be tough to run.
He's never gonna run.
You gotta be hard.
You can't be a pussycat.
Are you good for nothing
but glue and dog food, kid?
No.
Buddy says he won't run
if we keep teaching him tricks.
Might be right.
Take him back to the barn.
He's not right. I know he's not.
- What the hell is he doing?
- Go! Go! Go! Go!
What the hell? Casey, don't.
Casey, slow him down!
Casey, slow him down! Hold him up!
- I'm gonna kill that... Goddamn it.
- Good boy.
Casey, damn it.
Don't you know better than that?
Most likely you just broke him down.
Sure showed some speed, though.
Didn't he?
His bones ain't finished, ain't
knitted. His knees ain't closed.
- He ain't ready for running like that.
- But he can, is what I'm saying.
What's the good of that if his legs
are splinters? Damn fool. Stupid kid!
Hey, ease up.
Ease up? Hasn't he been here enough
to know better than to blow out a baby?
What am I running here?
A home for morons?
- I'm sorry.
- You're sorry? That's not good enough.
Here, you take him. You wash him
down, wrap his legs, walk him around.
You clean out the barn.
If he's lame tomorrow, you come up
with a fitting punishment for yourself.
Like maybe we ought to carve
you up for dinner.
Yes, sir.
- You awake?
- No, sir.
Well, wake up a minute.
We're not gonna carve you up.
We're gonna hang you and smoke you.
- Then the meat'll taste better then.
- Was that supposed to be funny?
- Yes.
- Well, it wasn't.
Well, what'll I say instead?
That it won't matter all that much
if he's lame tomorrow.
I'll go one better. if he's lame
tomorrow, I'll make him sound.
You can't.
Usually with a colt this young,
you can.
The muscles heal quickly and
the bones knit in no time at all.
Now go to sleep.
And if you ever
blow him out again, ever...
I will hang you and smoke you
and eat you for breakfast.
- You asleep now?
- Yes, sir.
I been filling out his
registration papers.
We're gonna call him Casey's
Shadow, if it's all right with you.
- Sound as a drum.
- Lucked out this time. Didn't you?
Yes, sir.
Who's that in that hat?
- Good morning, Mrs. Blue.
- Morning.
- Morning.
- Good morning.
Little man, half mile.
Hey, coonass. Whoa, boy.
Well, well. I thought it was
the Rhinestone Cowboy.
- Howdy, Buddy.
- Mr. Marsh.
What brings you back
to Cajun Country?
We'd heard you were top honcho
for Tom Patterson this year.
Just down for the Lafayette
Futurity. That's all.
- What's that?
- Remember?
Two years ago. That's the 200 I owe
you. I pay my debts... eventually.
- Give me 5O cents, Dad.
- What for?
I'm starving.
If you play Mike Marsh's
daughter, she'll cream you.
She will not. I'm just gonna get me
something to eat, for God's sake.
How come you never believe me?
He sure wants to run.
The track's real soft.
- What do you say, Buddy?
- Wouldn't hurt.
Track's got a good cushion.
All right. Start him easy.
All right. Go get him, Shadow.
Come on, Shadow. Come on!
Go get him, Shadow. Come on!
Jesus H. Christ!
All right! All right! All right!
Jesus H. Christ.
- Whose colt is that your boy's on?
- Sure moves. Don't he?
- What price you got on him?
- Raised him myself.
Mr. Patterson will give you maybe
$30,000 for that horse, maybe more.
- He's not for sale.
- Think about it, Lloyd.
- He's not for sale.
- Coonass.
What's your name?
- Randy Bourdelle.
- I like the way you ride.
- Thank you, ma'am.
- Do you ride this colt all the time?
Yes, ma'am. Him and four others.
My dad's a trainer.
The colt's not even blowing.
Your dad's brought him along nice.
- Yes, ma'am.
- He looks like Sure Hit.
- Sure Hit's his daddy.
- Yeah? Well, he moves like Sure Hit.
He's got that solid shoulder line,
the heavy hindquarters.
I don't like these quarter horses
looking like string beans.
- I like me a typed quarter horse.
- I like anything with speed.
Well, you're sitting on that.
- Why don't you put a price on him?
- You see that stride?
- Yeah, straight as an arrow, but did...?
- He broke hard and fast.
- I know, but Mike Marsh is...
- I never had a horse as good.
I never been near a horse as good
as this. Hey, Norm, what'd he do?
- Eighteen-thirty, Lloyd.
- Hear that? Eighteen-thirty.
Might be the best there is,
this horse.
True, but, Dad, Mike Marsh is talking
real money, not some dream.
I'm gonna bring him along slow
and easy. Build up the leg muscles.
- For $30,000, you could get a new truck.
- Build up the bone.
And Randy could go
to California to ride.
Get some of them pricey vitamins.
I'm gonna build a desire to win. That's
the hardest thing to teach a horse.
- To want to win bad enough to win.
- Yeah.
Spare me. You got no food in the
house. I'll put the rest in the bank.
That horse ain't mine to sell. You
know what I'd get for a deal like this?
If I was lucky...
a kiss on the ass.
Excuse me.
If we nominate Shadow for
All-American before the week...
it'll cost us four grand. If we wait
till August 1, it'll cost us 15 grand.
I think we ought to
nominate him now.
Fifteen grand for a 2-year-old colt
to run in a 2-year-old horserace?
The purse is 1 million dollars, Calvin.
One million dollars.
They raise it among the horsemen.
Texans, mostly. Gamblers.
They enter their colts as yearlings.
Then they run them at 2
when they're still green as willows.
If you wait till August of the horse's
second year, you kind of know.
You don't take the gamble,
so it costs you 15 grand.
Enter now, take the gamble,
it costs you only four.
Or just forget about
the All-American.
We can clean up match racing
Shadow this summer.
Nobody's seen him. Nobody's heard
of him. We can win a bundle on him.
He's got no real chance
in the All-American anyway.
- Well, that makes more sense to me.
- No, it don't make no sense at all.
This horse is the best. And you
wanna pee it away on match races?
This is a great horse.
I know a great horse when I see one.
- It seems I've heard that before.
- You said that about Eagle Leader.
And Run Spot Run. Remember that?
And neither one of them could
beat my dog with a full bladder.
Run him in a couple of easy
races to give him the experience...
then take him to Ruidoso early,
so he can get used to the altitude.
I wanna make money off that colt this
summer. I wanna run him every week.
You'll break him down, Calvin.
Well, if you don't wanna run him,
I'll have to get another trainer.
I don't want to have to do it, because
I know you brought him along good.
- I'll pay the four grand.
- What?
I'll pay it.
- For what percentage of the colt?
- Name it.
- Ten percent.
- Fine.
Come on, Calvin. We're taking all...
Wait a minute.
We ought to get at least 25 percent,
maybe even 40.
Ten's fine.
- You're hopeless.
- Calvin, all this says...
is that I decide what happens to the
colt between now and the All-American.
- What happens after the All-American?
- After the All-American...
you're gonna sell him to Sarah
Blue for one million dollars.
You're gonna buy
the New Orleans Saints...
and you're gonna retire to Tahiti
where the women don't wear no tops.
And where are you
gonna get you $4000?
- Hey, Buddy, did you talk to the bank?
- They laughed.
- Jimmy Collard?
- That was a waste of time.
Broussard?
Let's see, he said he'd see hell freeze
over before he'd loan you 20 cents.
Damn.
You know how Mike Marsh trains his
to jump out of the gate the way they do?
With an electric cattle prod. Man,
when that gate opens, they move.
It's how come they flip over
backwards in the gate too.
And his jocks exercise with an
electric charge in their sticks.
Them horses get so they jump
20 feet when you touch them.
You making a study of Marsh
and his training ways?
It's just interesting.
You know how many horses that
son of a bitch lost this year?
Nineteen of the finest babies there is...
he's broke down, sent to pasture
or killed outright in one year.
Well, if you're gonna win with
2-year-olds, you're gonna lose some.
- It's all part of the game, Daddy.
- If you like that way of winning...
you go work for Marsh, that son
of a bitch. I don't wanna know you.
Just keep the meter running.
Maybe I can second mortgage my truck.
Shit you can. You couldn't sell it
for scrap. Who'd loan you money on it?
No, man, not my truck. You're
not borrowing on my truck. No way.
He's gonna win the All-American. Ten
percent of the trainer's take is $30,000.
Ten percent ownership
of the colt is 30,000 more.
Ten percent for the jockey
is another 30,000.
What's the matter with you? Can't you
add? Didn't you see that colt run?
- Not my truck. No way.
- I've raised me a litter of fools.
- Mr. Lloyd Bourdelle?
- That's me.
- I'm Sarah Blue.
- Mrs. Blue?
I thought you just raced mostly in
California, Ohio and New Mexico.
What are you doing in Louisiana?
I'm running some of my older horses
this year at Delta. Trying it out.
- Well, it's an honor to meet you.
- Thank you.
- Could I come in a minute?
- Oh, sure. Come on in. Come on in.
I'll just get this out of here. Clean up.
Buddy, we can go in the kitchen.
Would you like to have a cup of
coffee, a beer, a Coke or something?
No, thanks. Nothing.
Buddy's just cleaning up a little.
- Sure Hit must be almost 20 now.
- That's correct.
- That's quite a horse.
- Yeah, quite a horse.
Lots of stories about you and
that horse, sleeping in his stall...
feeding him Milky Ways.
- Never gets tired of Milky Ways.
- Fine producing stud too.
- Yeah, better than Aspiration.
Yes, ma'am.
Of course, Patterson breeds Aspiration
to everything this side of a jackass.
I don't do that with Sure Hit.
Thirty triple-A mares a year.
- That way you improve the line.
- Yes, ma'am.
I'm interested in improving the line.
I like to think that over the years
Sure Hit's improved the line.
Well, he has. No doubt about that.
- I don't breed him to scrub mares.
- No, ma'am.
I been meaning to retire him
if I can find a colt with potential.
Well, that'd be hard to do. It'd be
hard to find a colt to follow Sure Hit.
This your son?
Yes, ma'am. That's my oldest boy,
Lloyd Jr. We call him Buddy.
Ma'am.
I understand you're near as
good a trainer as your dad.
- You want to come to work for me?
- Anytime. Yes, ma'am.
- Would you like a beer?
- Oh, no, thanks, Buddy. Nothing.
Bring me one.
I understand you have one of Sure
Hit's colts, one we didn't know about.
That's correct.
- And that he has some speed.
- Well, he's real young yet.
- Bringing him to Ruidoso?
- I might be.
- Are you speaking for the owner?
- Yes.
I have a percentage and
control through Labor Day.
- Then you are coming.
- Well, most likely.
- Yeah, well, I'd like to buy him.
- Not until after the All-American.
I'll pay you $50,000 outright.
Today. Right now.
Fifty thousand for a colt
that never run a race?
I'll give you a personal check
for the entire amount.
He's not for sale just yet. Not just
yet. He's not for sale right now.
But we'd sell you an option on him.
For how much?
Five thousand against a purchase
price to be negotiated.
- I assume that's all right with you?
- With me? Yes, ma'am.
That's all right. You bet. Yes, ma'am.
That's fine. Fine. Just fine.
Dad.
I love your house.
- That's for sale right now.
- See you in Ruidoso.
"Five thousand dollars...
against a purchase price
to be negotiated."
Oh, I bet I took me home the
wrong baby from the hospital.
I bet you're out of the First National
Bank by the Wall Street Journal.
Buddy, you done it. You done it.
You owe me 5 bucks, Casey.
You'll get it.
I charge 20 percent interest,
monthly. That's 10 bucks.
- I can add.
- You multiply for percents, dummy.
So? I can multiply.
- Casey, can that colt run?
- Of course.
- Want a match?
- No.
For the whole 5 bucks.
From here to the gate.
If you beat me,
you're out of debt. Come on.
Come on.
Casey, be careful!
Casey!
Whoa, Casey. Whoa, Casey!
Get off. Get off.
Dad.
Get Shadow. Get the leg wrap.
Get the vet.
He's just a little kid.
What are you gonna do to him?
Kill him.
Let me go. No!
Get in there.
Told you to stay off him.
- I needed $5.
- Five dollars?
We're aiming at a million-dollar purse,
and you destroy his legs on a $5 race?
Casey, we talked before. You don't
listen. Pull down your pants.
- I'm too big.
- You're too big to be so stupid.
I know.
But don't tell them if I cry.
Okay?
He'll be fit as a fiddle by 3. Shouldn't
run none of these colts as 2-year-olds.
It's like asking a 14-year-old boy,
still growing, to run the Olympics.
It's a cruelty.
Just another week, Shadow,
and they'll take this thing off.
Casey, this pony's liable
to step on Shadow.
Dad's right. I think you're demented.
Buddy said if you didn't have new
shoes by dinner, he's gonna whup me.
And if we see any likely girls in town,
you're walking home. Now, come on.
Don't move, you hear?
Come on!
I'm so horny even
Gypsy's starting to look good.
What's "horny"?
- It's getting better. Did you notice?
- Well, maybe a little.
You're not favoring it as much.
I can see that even if they can't.
Please get well. Please?
See that? And that?
It's not healed completely.
Hasn't been long enough. I wouldn't
move him, much less run him.
Well.
Six, eight months in the pasture,
he'll be sound...
and we can campaign him as a
3-year-old. Take him to Florida maybe.
Maybe even California. We can still
clean up, he's so full of talent.
Dad?
Give me some tobacco.
You're not gonna take him
to Ruidoso.
Will you quit telling me what to do!
- What the hell are you staring at?
- I don't rightly know.
Smells like a dead skunk
or bullshit or something.
You asking for the removal
of your teeth, son?
You can't take him, Dad.
He's not sound!
I won't run him if he's not sound!
You know that.
But if we take him now,
get him used to the altitude...
two months, walking around,
taking it easy, he's gonna be sound.
I'm not coming with you.
Sure you are.
I want my children at my elbow
when I win the All-American.
A coonass colt's never won the
All-American. This year he's gonna.
They say a cowboy with one
old horse can't win no more.
That running quarter horses is for
the rich and the fancy these days.
But in '66, an old boy with nothing but a
gas station and one good horse won it.
This year, this old boy's gonna do it.
We're leaving the end of the week.
- You the folks from Louisiana?
- That's right.
Y'all want cheap hay,
y'all come to Mescalero.
Mescalero. Thank you.
How come everybody knows us?
I don't know.
I don't like it.
We're not here to like it.
Well, I'll be damned. Bourdelle.
I'll see you in the barn.
Well, Randy, Lloyd,
when did y'all get here?
Last night.
- What you in, Rainbow Futurity?
- Just the All-American.
- You got balls.
- I would hope so.
There are 220 horses here
for the All-American.
They're holding 22 time trials,
all in the same day.
You gonna run in the top-10 time trials...
among 220 horses
with an inexperienced colt?
I reckon.
I think I'd put him in a softer race.
At least get your expenses back.
- I wanna keep him sound, Marsh.
- See you.
- Sure wants to run.
- No way, Randy.
- Couple more times. Slow and easy.
- Okay.
I'll see you.
Hey.
- You going to the swimming pool?
- Obviously.
- You want some company?
- Suit yourself.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,
and welcome to the 68th day of racing...
here at beautiful and friendly
Ruidoso Downs...
home of the All-American Futurity,
the world's richest horserace.
And in the first race, the Rainbow
Quarter Horse Futurity...
at a distance of 350 yards.
- -of Amarillo, Texas, trained by Pete
O'Brien. The rider will be Ron Herrera.
Number six is Foolish Phil,
owned by Dale Pearson...
of Oklahoma. Trained by Sam
Aswalha. The rider will be Joe Kellen.
Number seven is Smooth Chocolate,
owned and trained...
by Sarah Blue of Oklahoma.
The rider will be Bobby Adair.
Number eight is Aspirational, owned
by Tom Patterson of New Mexico.
Trained by Mike Marsh.
The rider will be Jimmy Donovan.
Number nine is Hit Again, owned by the
Pearson Farm of Santa Ana, California.
Number nine is Hit Again, owned by the
Pearson Farm of Santa Ana, California.
Trained by Kent Hollinger. And the
rider will be Willy Losh.
- Hi, Lloyd.
- Hi, Marsh.
Mr. Bourdelle?
Bourdelle.
You the one with the coonass colt?
That's me.
Tom Patterson. Can we talk business?
I had an idea you were somewhat taller.
- Excuse me.
- Sure.
What price do you have on the colt?
Sarah Blue's got an option
to buy him after the All-American.
You find out what her top price is.
I'll give you 50,000 more.
She'll back out.
But I want him running under
my name in the All-American.
Well, he's not for sale
before the All-American.
For a price, everything's for sale.
Not the coonass colt.
There you are. Set him.
There they go!
Attention, will the horse ambulance
go to the starting gate immediately?
The horse ambulance to
the starting gate immediately, please.
They're broke, both of them.
I heard them go.
- How about you? You all right?
- I'm okay.
- Got your curare?
- Yes.
Damn it, all of Aspiration's
babies are like this.
They're fine-boned,
legs like toothpicks.
If you'd keep them till they're
3-year-olds, you'd have winners.
Running them at 2,
all you have is carcasses.
- This just makes me sick.
- Talk to Mr. Patterson, doc, not me.
If it can't run at 2,
he doesn't want to bother.
Now put her to sleep.
I think it's too late to get Nicodemus.
He's probably riding for Bubba.
Let's get Cordova or Bobby Adair.
I want the best.
Hey, how about Mike Metter?
Look at little Kelly.
- Lord, how she's grown.
- Yeah.
She's the best bug boy I got.
How's life been treating you, kitten?
Fine. Thanks.
You've done a real good job on
Tricky Mickey. I'm here to thank you.
Well, he's a good old horse.
Donovan can't ride in the trials.
He's got a fractured pelvis.
- We're talking jockeys.
- Well, how about me?
Now, now.
- Look, why not, Daddy?
- Absolutely not.
Nobody'd hurt me. They raised me. I've
been around those guys since I was 7.
They looked after me, wiped my nose.
Not one of them would hurt me!
Goddarn it, the answer is no!
I've been on Tricky Mickey every day
since he was 15 months old.
He runs well for me,
better than for anybody else.
Make him let me!
I don't care who you ride, Mike,
as long as we qualify.
The photo-side appears
on the board.
Please retain all of your tickets
until the race is official.
The horses are approaching
the starting gate...
for the 4th division of
the All-American trial.
And ladies and gentlemen,
they're at the gate.
Keep him straight if you can.
- That's all you gotta do.
- I know.
- You take care of her, Dean.
- Will do.
This is gonna be as bad
as when she gets married.
If getting her married is this bad,
I'm putting her in a convent.
My nerves can't stand it.
All right, men. Watch the one horse.
You grab that front.
Three horse, sit down on you.
Watch that eight horse
when he gets to treading.
Your attention, please.
We have a little girl in the main office,
approximately 2 to 3 years old.
She's wearing blue pants
and a white blouse.
Will the parents please
go to the main office?
All right. Let's load them in.
Come right on with that four horse.
Straight in.
We're all right there. Back him up.
All right. Back the five horse up
just a little bit there.
Drop them horses and throw them in.
- Are you all right, honey?
- I'm fine.
Now they are all in line.
The flag is up.
Straight in.
There they go.
Tricky Mickey in front,
up along the inside rail.
No Loss is second,
followed by Belly Up.
On the outside perimeter, Caesar's
Parma, Scotty Boy and Push On.
It's Tricky Mickey with the lead.
Tricky Mickey on the outside.
Up along the inside, No Loss, and...
All right! All right!
Tricky Mickey, No Loss, Belly Up.
It's Tricky Mickey falling clear!
It's Tricky Mickey in front!
And ladies and gentlemen,
in winning aboard Tricky Mickey...
jockey Kelly Marsh has won her first
race on a recognized racetrack.
Thank you.
Nice ride.
Can't do much wrong on a great horse.
- You were even great with your stick.
- Thanks.
I been racing since I was 5 years old.
I can't remember what
the first win felt like. Tell me.
It felt great.
It's what I always wanted to do.
And now I'm sure.
- It's broke.
- I know.
When did it happen?
In the gate.
You nut.
Ladies and gentlemen,
this is the 22nd and final division...
of the All-American Quarter
Horse Futurity trials...
at a distance of 440 yards.
And a special reminder
that the list of 10 qualifiers...
And a special reminder
that the list of 10 qualifiers...
will be announced over the public
address system after the last race.
And the horses are
at the gate and lining up.
Back your five horse up
just a little bit there.
All right. Two horse, stay behind a little.
Get his feet under him.
All right. Come around with that
four horse. Straight in.
All right. Back your five horse up
just a little bit there.
All right. Sit still on them, riders.
Sit still.
And there they go!
Casey's Shadow is going to the front.
Foolish Phil second.
Up along the outside it's Calamity, then
it's Smooth Chocolate and Racing Mad.
It's Casey's Shadow on the inside rail.
It's Casey's Shadow!
Casey's Shadow falling clear.
It's Casey's Shadow now in the lead.
It's Casey's Shadow!
Ladies and gentlemen...
in winning the 22nd division of the AH-
American Quarter Horse Futurity trial...
Casey's Shadow has the fastest
qualifying time on today's program...
a clocking of
20 and 28/100 seconds...
the fastest qualifying time of
the 22 trials here this afternoon.
- He shin-bucked six months ago, doc.
- Well, he's done it again. See?
Great.
Ten days before the All-American.
He might as well have busted
all four legs.
I don't know.
We got this new drug.
Been working pretty good on shin bucks.
Lays new bone right in there.
You never know.
You know, even with this drug...
ten days isn't much time.
Could I pull up a chair?
You sure could, ma'am.
I see that your Smooth Chocolate
and No Loss both qualified.
- That's good.
- That's what you get with breeding.
How's Shadow?
We'll see.
- You ready to sell?
- No, ma'am.
- You're not gonna run him, are you?
- If he's sound, I am.
- He can't be sound.
- He might be.
You'll break him down if you run him.
I don't want him broken down.
I can't build him a reputation
if I can't run him.
I can't retire Sure Hit unless
I can prove Shadow's even better.
My heart bleeds for you, lady.
You said 4045. We did 45.
You said 4045.
At 4045. Way in the back, 45. 5000.
More and more good horsemen talking
about this filly than anybody today.
Round 25. Twenty-four, 25.
And 24... Five. Now 26.
Thirty-one five. Thirty-two.
- Anything interesting?
- I just got here myself.
We gonna get beat tomorrow?
Smooth Chocolate's in fine shape.
He could do it.
Jimmy Judson. Belly Up.
If it's wet, he's gonna be trouble.
- And the coonass colt?
- He ain't running.
Bourdelle says he is.
He shin-bucked during the trials.
He ain't sound.
Bourdelle says he's sound enough.
Bourdelle is full of shit.
If we get beat by him...
it's your ass.
Tom, why don't you just relax
and leave the coonass colt to me?
He'll be taken care of. Okay?
- Got a minute?
- Yes, ma'am.
- You buying anything?
- No. I buy privately.
- Want a beer?
- Sure.
Buddy...
how'd you like to come
and work for me?
It was a joke in Louisiana. I've seen
your work. Now it's a real offer.
I don't know.
I sure would like to, and I thank you...
but if it's cleaning stalls you wanted,
me and Dad train them together.
- We quarrel...
- I got stable boys coming out my ears.
I'd take you on as an apprentice trainer.
I have one other, nearly 5O colts a year.
Is this somehow conditional
on you getting Shadow?
It's $100 a week, room and board.
Do you want it?
I want it so bad I can taste it.
- Then meet me in Sunland, October 1.
- All right. October 1.
Damn!
Now...
I want you to talk your father
into withdrawing Shadow...
from the All-American.
Don't run him with a bad leg.
Don't wanna break him down.
Dad won't run him
if he's hurting, Mrs. Blue.
Are you sure of that?
Well, nearly. Yeah.
That's not good enough.
Give me the phone number
of your Mr. Calvin Lebec.
Calvin won't do you any good. Dad's
got control through the All-American.
- He's the one...
- Give me the number.
I'm gonna offer him
half a million dollars for the colt.
For the colt sound.
Hey!
Jesus! Help!
Breathe! Keep breathing!
Help me, somebody!
Help! Help!
Please, help me!
It's all right, Casey.
Gypsy would've wanted
to go saving Shadow.
She wouldn't have wanted
to get old and slow.
This way she was a winner to the end.
A winner.
How is the child?
Doctor gave him a sedative.
He's sleeping.
I thought he'd never quit crying.
- He'll get over it.
- Jimmy, I just wanna know who it was.
- What you gonna do?
- I wanna know who it was.
Lloyd, you know who it was.
Everybody knows who it was.
- See you later.
- You bet.
See you.
Hey, coonass.
What are you doing here
in the middle of the night?
You killed the wrong horse, Marsh.
You killed the pony.
You killed my baby's pony.
Prove it, coonass.
Well, where the hell you been?
I swear, Daddy, I just don't understand
what's going on in your head lately.
How could you run out
on Casey like that?
Where the hell have you been?
What, you been at the Hollywood Bar?
You should've been a
policeman, Buddy.
You got the right attitude of mind.
Something I need to talk to you about.
Mrs. Blue...
Calvin called me. Told me to withdraw
Shadow from the All-American.
Yeah, I think you should.
Said he'd give me 10% of
the half-million-dollar sale price.
Well, that's $50,000
not to run the horse.
He's got no right.
I got control until after the race.
I hung up on him.
Hung up on him.
Well, I'd withdraw him
if you was asking me.
I'm not asking you, am I?
I'll decide myself tomorrow
when I see how he is.
Mrs. Blue offered me a job tonight,
and I'm taking it.
I'm going with her to Sunland.
No wonder you'd withdraw Shadow
if you was me.
You don't want me
beating your new boss.
I knew you'd say that.
I knew it!
Dad?
He heard what Buddy said.
Who do you like
in the first race tomorrow?
Ma said she'd be back
in two months.
I keep waiting for her to come back.
- Well, she's not coming back.
- I know.
I'm never gonna see her again.
And I'm never gonna see Gypsy again.
Tomorrow, Mrs. Blue's taking Shadow,
and I'm never gonna see him again.
And now Buddy.
I know it hurts a lot.
He's not favoring it that much.
It won't hurt him to run.
It will too hurt him.
Relax until post time.
Buddy, get me the bandages.
Casey, get me the bandages.
Don't do it.
In the tack room, Casey.
Fill them with ice and bring them here.
Move!
Go on. Go on. Move. Move!
All my life, all I hear from you is,
"Never run a hurting horse, boy.
You run a hurting horse,
you gonna break him down, boy."
All my life. And look at you.
If you're not gonna help, get out.
Mrs. Blue offered half a million
for Shadow as is.
Now that's $50,000 for you,
for not running.
- I'm running him.
- Shit!
You're gonna break him down.
You won't get nothing.
It don't make sense.
- After I win this race, you...
- You ain't got no chance to win.
- There's always a chance, Buddy.
- A hurting horse got no chance...
with this kind of competition.
Son, this hurting horse
is my only chance.
You see Sarah Blue offering me a job?
Or Tom Patterson? Or anybody?
- Get out of here.
- No.
Get out!
Oh, for God's sake.
It bothered your mama
that we were poor...
that our horses didn't win much.
Didn't bother me.
I had my beer...
farm, you kids.
Seemed like enough to me.
More than enough.
What more could a man want?
Then he come along
out of nowhere.
And I got my one chance
to be something.
Get my name in the record books.
Lloyd Bourdelle.
Right up there alongside of
Sarah Blue and God.
I know it's wrong
running a hurting horse, Buddy.
But I gotta do it.
Lloyd! Hey, Lloyd!
Hey, Calvin, old buddy.
When did you get in?
Look, I don't want you
running that horse.
I got control till after the race.
Take what you want and stuff it.
- Look, Sarah Blue made me an offer.
- I don't care.
I got control. Don't you understand that?
Wait a minute. Look.
I'll go to the press, the stewards,
the racing commission, everybody.
I'll tell them you're running my horse
against my orders.
Calvin, listen to me. That horse is
gonna win. He's not gonna break down.
Remember the $300,000 purse,
on top of that, the sale price. It's yours.
Add it up, man.
You're gonna be rich as Jesus!
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,
and welcome...
to the 67th and final race day
here during the...
1976 summer season
in beautiful Ruidoso Downs...
home of the All-American
Quarter Horse Futurity...
the world's richest horserace.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have at last
come to the final race for today.
The race we've all been waiting for,
the 18th annual running...
of the All-American Futurity
at Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico.
This race originated years ago
when the Oklahoma cattlemen...
and the Texas farm men came to...
these lovely mountains
of New Mexico...
to get away from the summer heat.
They brought their fastest cow ponies...
and matched them, and the
All-American Futurity was born.
- Number four, sir.
- Okay.
Number one, sir.
Okay-
Come on. Thattagirl. That's it.
Come on.
That's gonna fit you.
Fit real nice.
Put the blinkers on him.
Let's go, riders.
Come on, one horse.
Two, you're right behind him.
Go with three. Come on, four, let's go.
Five horse.
Six.
Seven.
And the jockeys are up.
And there's a lot of excitement here.
Owners, trainers, jockeys alike,
this is the world's richest horserace...
the All-American
Quarter Horse Futurity...
worth a million dollars.
Now, may we direct your attention...
to the head of the grandstand and the
call of the post by Rolf Utarabe.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the
opening of the All-American Futurity.
Number one is Casey's Shadow.
Casey's Shadow is owned...
by Calvin Lebec of Erath,
Louisiana, trained by Lloyd Bourdelle.
The rider will be Randy Bourdelle.
Number two is Rita Jay.
Rita Jay is owned by...
If this hurts him...
That's the field for the
All-American Quarter Horse Futurity...
the world's richest horserace.
- Don't push him, Randy. Okay?
- Are you telling me not to win?
I'm telling you, boy, you'd
break him down if you push him.
Congratulations, rider. Okay.
Mr. Bourdelle.
Mr. Bourdelle. Mr. Bourdelle.
Just a moment, please.
Congratulations. Great race.
Now, tell me.
What was your first thought?
I thought I was gonna pee in my pants.
Well, okay. What are you
gonna do with all that money?
Well, I'm gonna
pay me off some debts first.
Then I'm gonna get me
a brand-new pickup.
Then I'm gonna take
my children on a vacation...
to Tahiti, where the women
don't wear no tops.
Well, thank you very much,
Mr. Bourdelle.
Ladies and gentlemen, we've been
talking with Mr. Lloyd Bourdelle...
the trainer of Casey's Shadow,
this year's Futurity winner...
the dark horse, as it were,
from Erath, Louisiana.
You miss old Gypsy?
Bet you don't, you dumb horse.
Dad.
- Dad!
- Yeah?
He's real lame.
He's looking at the x-rays now.
Maybe Miss Blue would let me ride
for her or exercise them or anything.
- I can clean stalls.
- I'll ask her.
You'll ask nobody.
- Thanks for calling me.
- Seemed you should be here.
You see this?
Look at that. It's the worst I've
ever seen. Split three ways.
- He won't be sound again.
- No, no!
Then I'm out, gentlemen.
- You got me out of bed for nothing.
- Miss Blue, wait.
The deal was I'd buy the horse sound...
or shin-bucked if he didn't run
in the All-American.
I knew this would happen.
You knew this would happen.
See you 'm Surf land, Buddy.
You idiot. You just blew
a half million dollars. You realize that?
Mr. Lebec, the leg is shattered.
In my opinion,
he should be destroyed.
No!
- Is it possible that you can save him?
- Anything's possible...
but in my opinion,
it's not worth trying.
Put him out of his misery.
I'll need you to sign
some release forms.
Maybe Mrs. Blue would sign us on now.
Was it worth it to you, Daddy?
Yeah, you got some dollars
in your pockets now.
And your name in the record book.
And a vacation to Tahiti
and a new truck.
Was it worth it to you?
Wait a second, doc.
That colt in there is about as
high-strung as an old cooker spaniel.
My baby raised that colt as a pet.
Casey can get him to stand still long
enough for the bones to mend. I know.
Casey's gone with Buddy, Lloyd.
Man said put him out of his misery,
and I'm gonna put him out of his misery.
I'm not looking for a $100,000 vet bill.
And on a horse I'd have to destroy
in the end anyway, it don't make sense.
- I'll pay the vet bills.
- How's that?
Whatever it takes.
My share of the purse...
I'll hock the farm, whatever it takes.
If he can be saved, Calvin,
you'll have yourself a great stud.
If he can't be saved, you lose nothing.
You got no risk.
- Okay, Lloyd.
- Now, wait.
- I really can't recommend...
- I know, doc, but I want you to do it.
Please, I'm begging you. Just try it.
That's all I'm asking. Just try it.
- I want this truck on the road by 10 a.m.
- We'll be there, Miss Blue.
Welcome aboard, cowboy.
I come to apologize.
The vet put his leg back together.
Says he took the operation real good.
I'm trucking him home tomorrow.
Sure could use a couple of good hands.
Okay, fellas.
Come on, boy. Come on.
Easy. Easy.
Take it easy getting him up in there.
Go on, Casey. Go on, boy.
Thattaboy.
Thanks, boys.
You don't want him moving around. He
gets restless, you stop, give him a shot.
- Okay, doc.
- Let me know how it turns out, Lloyd.
- I will, doc. Thanks again.
- Wait till you get the bill.
Come on, Casey.
- What are you doing, Casey?
- Staying in here.
- Oh, come on...
- Oh, let him. He'll keep Shadow quiet.
It's all right. Come on.
- You get cold, you holler. You hear?
- All right.
- And zip up your jacket.
- All right.
He didn't mean to hurt you.
Dumb old man. He didn't mean to.
The floor. The floor. Push it to the...
There it...