Star Kennewick race horse getting new start in Montana

Kennewick’s Jackie Smith has been deeply involved in training thoroughbred race horses for decades.

She began training horses while working full-time as a kindergarten teacher in Kennewick, influenced by her father Jack Yearout, who was a standout trainer in horse racing.

“I taught grade school for 30 years, raised my kids, and had four horses during that time,” Smith said. “In 2012, I stopped teaching and started racing full-time.”

Her stable got up to 12 horses at certain times. But it’s at a more manageable eight now.

Smith loves all of her racehorses, and she grows attached to them all.

Smith has a talented stable. She brought seven horses to the Grants Pass meet this year and finished third in the trainer standings for the season.

The top two trainers each had 25 horses in their stable.

But Smith also knows there comes a time when one of her horse’s racing days are over, and it’s time to redirect their career.

Such is the case of Cantchaco, a 10-year-old gelding that’s won 47 times in his 8-year racing career.

Cantchaco has raced in places like Grants Pass, Ore.; Great Falls, Mont.; Lethbridge, Alberta; and of course, Kennewick at Sun Downs Race Track.

These places, though dwindling in number, are like the backbone of horse racing in North America.

Most of those 2-year-olds you see racing in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness or the Belmont for the Triple Crown? Most of their careers last just a few years before they go into retirement, or stud, or both.

But horses like Cantchaco keep running for a good 8 or 9 years.

And he’s done well — 103 starts, 47 wins, and $197,000 in winnings.

“I wanted to get him to 50 wins this year,” Smith said. “But COVID stopped that.”

Smith mentions a few other numbers for Cantchaco:

• In 2017, he was first in all of North America among thoroughbreds with 11 wins.
• In 2018 he was sixth; in 2019 he was eighth.
• He had 22 stakes or handicaps career wins.
• He was Oregon Horse of the Year for three consecutive years.

So why now? Why retire him from racing?

“He’s 10 years old,” Smith said. That’s an age where racehorses start losing a step or two.

But Cantchaco is not done being an athlete.

Smith is sending him to a woman in Montana who trains racehorses to become jumping-competition horses.

She’s worked with this woman before.

“When my horses retire I want to make sure they go to a good home,” Smith said.

Most people think that means sitting out in a pasture for the rest of their lives.

“People ask me why don’t I turn them out in the grass,” Smith said. “They’re not going to be happy with a big fat belly. That’s not fair to those thoroughbreds who’ve been racing for a long time. It’s a waste of a really good athlete.”

Smith says Cantchaco could be a jumper for at least 10 years.

“He’s so big and strong,” Smith said. “Horses that you see jumping in the Olympics are 18, 19 and 20 years old.”

Smith mentions another of her horses, Sportive. Between Sportive and Cantchaco, these are her two favorites.

A few years ago, Sportive — 22 wins in 79 career starts, $137,000 in winnings — followed the same retirement path Cantchaco is about to take.

“Sportive has been a jumping horse, but now she is also starting to learn polo,” Smith said.

So there is plenty of life for racehorses after competition on the track. After all, these beauties live for 25 to 30 years.

“It’s kind of like having kids at home,” she said. “As they get older, they’ve got to go on with their lives. I’m gonna miss Cantchaco personally. These horses love being pampered. But you’re not doing them any favors by putting them out to pasture.”

Smith mentions that when Cantchaco races, the public address announcer tells the crowd that it’s watching the winningest horse in America right now.

“So I know he’d be so unhappy sitting in a pasture,” she said. “He loves being busy. Standing out in a pasture he’d be bored out of his mind. He’s still an athlete. It’s bittersweet. I’m gonna miss him so much.”

But she’ll be just as eager to follow Cantchaco’s next chapter in life.

WIAA

The executive board of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association is moving the goalposts again.

Late Tuesday, the board sent out a release, stating that it was moving the start of high school sports back another month due to the rise in coronavirus cases statewide.

Instead of practice for the WIAA Season 2 — boys and girls basketball, boys and girls wrestling, girls bowling, gymnastics and boys swimming and diving — beginning Dec. 28, practices for these sports now begin Feb. 1. Gymnastics is an exception; it would begin Jan. 25.

Sports seasons also are now cut down to seven weeks.

Competition for the above sports would run from Feb. 8 to March 14, with some form of WIAA culminating event being held the week of March 15-21.

Season 3: High school football would now start with practices March 8, with competitions held from March 19 to April 25.

There would be a two-week WIAA culmination events from April 26 to May 9.

The rest of the Season 3 sports — cheerleading, cross country, slowpitch softball, girls soccer, boys 1B/2B soccer, girls swim and dive, and volleyball — would begging practice on March 15.

Competition for these sports would occur between March 22 to April 25, with a WIAA culminating event the week of April 26 to May 2.

Season 4: All Season 4 sports — baseball, dance and drill, fastpitch softball, golf, boys 1A to 4A soccer, tennis, and track and field — would start practices on April 26.

Competitions would be held May 3 to June 6, with the WIAA culminating events being held the week of June 7-13.

The board’s release also stated, “Due to the delay of WIAA Season 2, the Board voted to approve an extension of the WIAA Open Coaching Window to Jan. 23. The window allows for coaches in all sports to work with student-athletes in the same fashion as the summer coaching window.”

College football

For the second straight week, Chiawana graduate AJ Vongphachanh led the Utah State defense in tackles.

An inside linebacker, Vongphachanh collected 9 tackles (5 solo) in a 35-16 loss last Saturday to Fresno State.

Vongphachanh also forced a fumble and was credited for half of a tackle for loss.