I Do One Two Three held his own in some of the nation's biggest paint races to earn the APHA's highest racing honor.
Michigan-bred I Do One Two Three capped off a successful 2010 campaign by earning the American Paint Horse Association’s Running World Champion title for Regular Registry Paint Quarter Horses.
The announcement was made Jan. 15 at the Heritage Place Sale in Oklahoma City, Okla.
The tobiano four-year-old Judy’s Lineage gelding is homebred by Mount Pleasant Meadows president Walter and Carolyn Bay’s T-Bill Stables. A pair of trainers, Sleepy Gilbreath and Kasey Willis, sent I Do One Two Three to the post in 2010.
A winner of two of his seven starts in 2010, I Do One Two Three finished the year with earnings of $32,627. His overall career record boasts four wins from 14 starts for earnings of $74,375.
I Do One Two Three also earned divisional honors as top three-year-old gelding and overall champion three-year-old on the Regular Registry side of the awards. In 2009, he took home the award as the APHA’s top Regular Registry two-year-old gelding.
The APHA honors divisional champions in two separate registries – Regular and Solid Paint-Bred. According to the APHA, to qualify for the Regular Registry, as I Do One Two Three does, a horse must “exhibit a minimum amount of white hair over pink skin.” Solid Paint-Breds comparatively show very little color.
In the press release announcing the winners, the APHA describes its criteria for selecting champions as based on “level of competition, location, races won and earnings for the year”.
I Do One Two Three kicked off his 2010 campaign with a convincing win in his trial heat for the Graham Paint & Appaloosa Derby (G1) at Remington Park. A rough break, though, led him to a fourth place finish in the final. He finished fourth again in the Paint Stallion Breeders Association Derby (G1), also at Remington.
After a fifth place finish in the Texas Paint Horse Breeders Association Derby (G3) at Sam Houston Race Park, I Do One Two Three returned to Oklahoma to win the Lorelei Derby (G3) at Will Rogers Downs. He closed out the year at Will Rogers with a runner-up finish in the Talimena Handicap.
I Do One Two Three did not race in Michigan last year, but he does have experience at Mount Pleasant Meadows from his two-year-old season. In 2009, I Do One Two Three registered a trial win and a pair of second place finishes in the Great Lakes Quarter Horse Association Michigan Paint Horse Futurity (G3) and the GLQHA Stallion Service Sale Futurity.
The APHA’s inaugural Canadian champion, Paint Me A Bono, also has some experience at the central Michigan mixed breed track.
The four-year-old Bono Jazz gelding outkicked I Do One Two Three to win the 2009 GLQHA Michigan Paint Horse Futurity. He preceded that with a maiden-breaking score in his only other start at Mount Pleasant.
Bred in California by Theresa and Alan Reese, Paint Me A Bono is owned by Ivy Lane Racing and trained by Michigan-based conditioner Tom Dunlap.
Paint Me A Bono went one for seven in 2010, but he finished in the money in five of those starts. His earnings for the year totaled $24,972.
The gelding’s year started at Remington Park, with the trials and finals of the Graham Paint & Appaloosa Derby. He finished third in both races. Paint Me A Bono then moved north of the border, where he competed in the allowance ranks at Ajax Downs.
To view the full APHA press release, along with pictures of the champions and a list of other divisional winners, click here.
The Michigan-Bred Claimer 