Apolltical Chad outside his barn at Ruidoso.

© Richard Chamberlain

Q-RACING JOURNAL—AUGUST 29, 2016—Apolltical Chad will go into the All American Futurity (G1) as the richest and most accomplished starter in the field, but also as the only starter coming off a second-place finish in the trials.

In the fourth heat on the first day of trials, Apolltical Chad – winner of the $1-million Ruidoso Futurity (G1) – broke from the 8 post and closed strongly but came up a neck short at the wire to One Hot Habit, who had finished seventh in the Ruidoso Futurity. One Hot Habit and Apolltical Chad were both making their first starts since the Ruidoso final on June 12.

“I thought he left really good,” said trainer Wes Giles. “But it seemed like he couldn’t go anywhere. I looked over and the 1 horse (One Hot Habit) had us beat two lengths. My horse was trying, but it was like he just couldn’t get a hold of the track. And then he saw that horse and he tried too hard to catch him too fast, and that made things worse for him, because he went to scrambling trying to make it up too fast. But he closed real well, made up a lot of ground and finished real strong.”

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