Duponte got his second graded stakes win in Saturday's Heritage Place Futurity(G1) at Remington Park.

© Dustin Orona Photography

Q-RACING JOURNAL—JUNE 9, 2016—Well-known halter horse trainer, exhibitor and AQHA Professional Horseman Luke Castle was attending the races at Remington Park on Saturday night. While watching the post parade, he pointed to a stout, sorrel colt, the No. 10 horse in the $1,083,420 Heritage Place Futurity (G1), noting that this was a horse that he could take into the halter pen and do well with.

That horse was Duponte, and he is doing quite well on the racetrack. The sorrel colt races for Kristen Ashley Paredes of Maxwell, Texas, and with his length victory in the aforementioned million-dollar race, has now won half of his four starts – both the finals of major stakes – and earned $578,519. He also won the Harrah’s Entertainment Futurity (G3).

It’s nice to have a horse with the looks, the ability to win when the money’s on the line and the potential to run on down the track. It should be interesting to see how this horse does moving forward.

He certainly has the pedigree for distance. Bred by champion breeder and American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Cox, Duponte is by American Runaway and out of the Ivory James mare Havanah Goodtime.

American Runaway was a son of Ocean Runaway out of the Strawfly Special mare Allamericandreamgirl. He himself finished just a nose behind Llano Teller in the 2010 Heritage Place Futurity (G1). He would go on to win the 350-yard Ruidoso Futurity (G1) and again, fall just a nostril short in the 400-yard Rainbow Futurity (G1) and Texas Classic Futurity (G1). He would be honored as the champion 2-year-old and champion 2-year-old colt for that tremendous body of work.

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