All American Training Stays All in the Family

The Wood and Joiner families are set for a big weekend at Ruidoso Downs.

By Amy Owens
Q-Racing Journal
September 1, 2012

This year marks the fourth consecutive year in which trainer Blane Wood has been represented by at least one qualifier in the All American Futurity (G1), and he is quick to credit his son, Trey, for his integral role in the operation's success. Trey, 24, is a multiple Grade 1-winning trainer who works with his father during the Ruidoso Downs season, where they are frequent players in major races.

“Somebody said, ‘Does Trey work for you?’ I said, ‘No, I work for him,’” Blane said.

The Woods started 20 horses in the 26 trials to the All American Futurity (G1) on August 16. They earned a spot in the $2.4 million final on Labor Day when Raymundo Villareal Jr.'s BP Cartels Alibi, a $50,000 supplement, finished in a dead heat with Aha Moment to win the 25th trial; the pair became the co-seventh-fastest qualifiers with a time of :21.385. The next day, the Woods qualified Johnny Trotter's Hez Our Secret to the $2,234,539 All American Derby (G1).

Trey, who sent out BP Cartels Alibi to win the Heritage Place Futurity (G1), represents the third generation of American Quarter Horse trainers in his family. Blane was 20 when he was working for his father, Leo, when the elder Wood won the 1979 All American Futurity with Pie In The Sky. Blane and his wife, Sandy, raised their two children at the racetrack.

“He didn't go to any day cares,” Wood said about Trey. “He'd stay at the barn. We'd barricade him and his sister (Lacy) in the tack room with two bales of hay. That's how we watched them. His mother cleaned stalls. I used to gallop our own horses, so it's a family deal.”

Another future successful trainer who worked for Leo Wood was Mike Joiner, whose son Cody, 32, is a trainer based at Los Alamitos. This weekend, the Joiners join the Woods in Ruidoso's two biggest races. Mike has Linda Tee Fire in the All American Derby for owners Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine. Cody will send out Abigail Kawananakoa's Native Tea Rose in the All American Futurity.

Cody Joiner, who attended high school in nearby Capitan, New Mexico, worked summers for his father and for Blane Wood and other trainers. He has been based at Los Alamitos since 2004, where he first assisted his father and handled such horses as multiple champion FDD Dynasty before going on his own. Cody has treasured the opportunity to return to Ruidoso.

“It's a dream come true, to come back and qualify to a race like the All American Futurity,” Cody said. “We've won some big races but this one, it's so hard to qualify for – it makes it that much special. And to be with the family makes it that much better.”

Also in action this weekend is a set of training brothers. Juan Gonzalez will send out Robert D. Sanchez's Eyein This Feature in the Derby. His younger brother Eduardo trains 21 Partnership's Sudden Thoughts, who will run in the Futurity. Juan Gonzalez won the Futurity in 2003 with Rosella Prieto's By By JJ.

Fans can watch the All American Derby and Futurity – and many other races – free of charge at www.qracingvideo.com. Q-Racing Video provides unlimited access to live and replay simulcast race video of most American Quarter Horse tracks in the United States and Canada. For complete coverage of All American week at Ruidoso Downs, visit www.aqharacing.com. Read the September issue of the Q-Racing Journal, the digital publication covering American Quarter Horse racing, for full post-race analysis, at www.aqharacing.com, and find us on Facebook (Q-Racing) or Twitter (@AQHARacing).