OQHRA announces the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees: JD Anderson, Marty Powers, Merganser, and Oklahoma Stud. Coralee Farley, was honored with the Debbie Schauf Spirit Award.

© Dustin Orona Photography

EDMOND, OK– DECEMBER 3, 2025–The Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association is pleased to announce the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees. This year’s class honors two horsemen, two outstanding horses and a landmark breeding operation whose work has shaped Quarter Horse racing in Oklahoma and across the country. The recipient of the Debbie Schauf Spirit Award will also be recognized during the event.

The Hall of Fame inductions will take place on February 28, 2026, at the Grand Casino Resort in Shawnee, Oklahoma.  Tickets will be available HERE January 14th. Hotel reservations will be available at www.grandresortok.com. Use the code OQHRA26.

Watch for the OQHRA Year End Awards Announcement in January!

JD Anderson © photo courtesy of OQHRA

JD Anderson - Sallisaw, Oklahoma
JD Anderson has spent more than sixty years in the horse business, and at eighty-nine years old he is still training. He grew up in Oklahoma, where his father ran horses on bush tracks across the state, and he learned the work from the ground up. His family raced multiple breeds, and that carried on to his own career as he trained Quarter Horses, Paints and Appaloosas with equal skill.

JD became known for his steady approach and the pride he took in prepping a horse the right way. He established long-standing relationships with owners and built a record that earned respect across the region. In 1992 he was the leading Quarter Horse trainer at Blue Ribbon Downs, and he raced at every major Oklahoma track during his long career, as well as several tracks throughout surrounding states.

Beyond his work on the racetrack, JD played an important part in helping bring pari-mutuel racing to Oklahoma. He was active in the early formation of the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association and worked alongside other horsemen to support the growth of the industry.

His induction reflects a career built on consistency, experience and genuine dedication to Oklahoma racing. Few have stayed the course as long as JD, and his place in the Hall of Fame is well earned.

Marty Powers © photo courtesy of OQHRA

Marty Powers - Wynnewood, Oklahoma
Marty Powers grew up following his grandfather through the barns, learning early what it meant to be a horseman. As a teenager he was already riding any horse he could get on and buying and selling horses throughout high school, always trying to trade up and learn what made a good one. After graduating, he continued his education on an athletic scholarship at a junior college and later earned his BA from Northwestern State College in Alva.

He worked the sales with horseman Roger Daly, gaining firsthand experience in how the best in the business fit, showed and presented horses. While working a sale at Heritage Place he was approached by Ralph Shebester about coming to Wynnewood to manage Shebester Stallion Station. Marty took the job and began there in 1980. Through the mid-80s he served as ranch manager of a program that stood leading stallions and attracted breeders from across the region. After his time at Shebester he went on to manage Lazy E Ranch in the 1990s.

Those years gave him daily experience with stallion management, mare care, foaling and working with owners, trainers and breeders. He eventually built his own program, MP Horses in Wynnewood, which has become a familiar name at major sales across the country. His consignments have earned a reputation for being well prepared and professionally presented.

In 2022 Royal Vista Ranches announced that Marty would join their team as Director of Operations, adding his decades of hands-on experience to one of the premier breeding farms in the country while continuing to operate MP Horses.

Marty is known for his steady approach, honesty and the confidence breeders place in him. His induction recognizes a lifetime of work that has contributed greatly to the success of Oklahoma racing and breeding.

Send Me The Candy © photo courtesy of OQHRA

Send Me The Candy
Send Me The Candy was foaled in 1994, a bay mare by Leaving Memories out of Send Me Candy and bred by Carl Pevehouse. She made six starts at two, winning three, earning $135,976 and capturing the Grade 1 Remington Park Futurity.

Her greatest impact came as a broodmare. She produced thirty starters, eighteen winners and twenty-two ROM. Her foals include Send Me A Candy Tree, This Candys Special, This Candys Royal, Eyesa Candy Maker, Send The Candy Wagon and Eye On This Candy.

Through her daughters she became the foundation of one of the most successful modern female families in Quarter Horse racing. She is the direct female ancestor of All American Futurity winner Jess Good Candy, Champion of Champions winner Apolitical Pence, This Candys Awesome, Candy Cartel, Send Me This Wagon and many other graded stakes runners.

Her induction honors the depth, consistency and influence she brought to the breed and the lasting mark she left on Oklahoma programs.

Merganser © photo courtesy of OQHRA

Merganser
Merganser delivered one of the most remarkable two-year-old seasons in Quarter Horse racing and became a fan favorite for his heart, toughness and professionalism. He was owned by Jerry Wells of Sulphur, Oklahoma, and Ron Shalz of Kansas, and trained by AQHA Hall of Fame trainer Jack Brooks.

In 1988 he began his career at Sunland Park, where he swept the West Texas Futurity and the Sun Country Futurity. Nineteen days later he qualified for the Kansas Futurity. A starting gate incident cost him that race, but he returned eleven days later to win a Rainbow Futurity trial and went on to capture the Rainbow Futurity at Ruidoso Downs.

He completed a historic season with a determined victory in the All American Futurity, defeating a field that included future World Champion See Me Do It. Merganser finished his career with thirteen wins from twenty-three starts and earnings of more than $1.3 million. His dominant two-year-old campaign earned him the title of 1988 World Champion Running Horse.

After his racing career, Merganser made a significant impact as a sire. He produced 246 foals, including 130 ROM earners, 109 winners, five Superior Race award winners, six stakes winners and two World Champions. His offspring earned more than $1.9 million on the racetrack, extending his influence far beyond his own remarkable season.

His induction recognizes both his exceptional accomplishments on the track and the lasting impression he left on everyone who worked with him.

Oklahoma Stud

Oklahoma Stud - Purcell, Oklahoma
Oklahoma Stud opened near Purcell in the mid 1970s and quickly became one of the most influential breeding operations in the country. A group of owners and breeders came together to build a central stallion station that would house some of the top bloodlines in the industry. Its carefully planned design, rolling pastures and state of the art layout drew visitors from across the nation.

The stallion roster included Victory Stride, Double Bid, Tiny Charger, Alamitos Bar, Fleet Kirsch, Hy Lucky Jay, Bolductive, Nativo and Go For Two. In later years, the farm stood additional notable stallions such as Twin Jet, Fols Native, Flaring Dancer, Gold Seeker Bars, Jet Charger and Decka Center.

Oklahoma Stud helped move the state to the forefront of Quarter Horse breeding. Its induction honors the farm itself and the standard it set for breeding operations in Oklahoma.

Coralee Farley © photo courtesy of OQHRA

Debbie Schauf Spirit Award - Honoring Coralee Farley
The Debbie Schauf Spirit Award recognizes an individual whose generosity, dedication and care for others reflect the legacy of Debbie Schauf. Debbie was known as the person anyone in racing could call, no matter the time or the challenge. This award honors those who carry that same spirit forward.

This year’s recipient, Coralee Farley, has spent her life serving Quarter Horse racing and the people in it. Her early years included work at Eureka Downs, and she continued to build a career that took her through multiple jurisdictions. She later served as a racing official in Texas, spent several years on the AQHA Racing Committee and eventually came to Oklahoma, where she worked at Will Rogers Downs and now Expo Square in Tulsa.

Coralee has long been a steady presence in chaplaincy programs at both Fair Meadows and Will Rogers Downs. She is often the one organizing care bags with essential items, planning cookouts or making sure someone on the backside has what they need. Even during significant health challenges in recent years, she remained connected to the people of the racetrack and continued to find ways to help others.

Her kindness, strength and quiet dedication make her a deserving recipient of the Debbie Schauf Spirit Award.

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