White Tex was claimed by the Virtual Owners Partnership on October 15, 1995, out of a $13,500 claiming race at Churchill Downs. A '91 son of Palmers Tex, out of White Heron by Bombay Duck (Nashua), White Tex was bred by Alfred Eldredge in Florida. He had a record of 33-9-3-4 with earnings of $61,389 when he was claimed (includes the race from which claimed).
All images .gif format unless noted otherwise.
White Tex joins Liane's barn - November 19, 1995
Howdy, new owners! (62k)
Spiffing up for a photo shoot and loving every minute (73k)
A well behaved photo subject ... just out of biting range (143k)
1st VOP Race - January 25, 1996 TP 5th, clm13500, 6f, track slow. Heriberto Rivera, Jr. up.
Virtual Owners Partnership kicked off its 1996 season at
Kentucky's Turfway Park with Tex facing a fairly tough field of ten horses
on a very deep, muddy track under the Turfway lights. He battled for
the early lead, was taken up in the backstretch to stay out of the speed
duel, and then was unable to catch the runaway leaders in the stretch,
finishing 4th. Still, a good effort.
Tex's running line: 3-5-4-3-3-4
2nd VOP Race - February 16, 1996 SPT 9th, alw5000s, 6.5f, track fast. Heriberto Rivera, Jr. up.
Back in Chicago for Sportsman's Opening Day, White Tex and Herbie Jr.
faced a tough Starter Allowance field after working a sharp 5f just 10
days before. Between the workout and Opening Day, the SPT crew took up a
good portion of the track to make it faster, and then on race day Liane
discovered that Tex would not be allowed to run on Lasix due to a snafu
in eligibility between the Illinois and KY/Ohio racing circuits. Whether
or not either the change in track conditions or the lack of Lasix made
any difference is debatable, but for whatever reason Tex got
off to a slow and awkward start, trailed the field for most of the race,
and finally passed some tiring horses in the stretch for a disappointing
8th place finish.
Tex's running line: 6-9-10-10-9-8
Race 2 - Post Parade (111k)
Race 2 - Stretch run - actually passing a horse! (98k)
3rd VOP Race - March 7, 1996 SPT 5th, clm5000, 6f, purse
$8,000, track good. Heriberto Rivera, Jr. up.
After that last race, we had no idea how Tex would run. Apparently,
neither did the Sportsman's bettors, as Tex went off the 6-1 5th
choice. But something was different - back on Lasix, a semi-muddy track
he could get a grip on, the nippy winter air, the bright blanket of
snow on the Sportsman's infield, the wrong silks due to an administrative
screw-up, cheaper
competition, something - and whatever it was seemed much to Tex's liking.
The gates opened, Tex got a good start, the expected speed horse didn't
take command - so Tex and Herbie Jr. did. Tex got the lead immediately,
set fractions that equalled the best of
the day (a N2X allowance), and never looked back, despite being pressed
hard all the way down the backstretch, around the turn, and into the
stretch. And unlike the horses who took early leads into the
stretch and then faded in three of the four previous races on the day's card,
Tex didn't, finishing the 6f ahead by 3/4 in 1:10 4/5, second fastest on
the day to the N2X's 1:10 2/5. "A win in any other silks ...", and
this one was especially sweet. Way to go Tex!
Tex's running line: 3-1-1-1-1-1
Regrettably, Tex suffered an injury during this race, and the partners have decided it would be best to retire him from the track. Tex has found a new home with a show rider, and will be retrained after a layoff.
Race 3 - Post Parade (116k)
Race 3 - Stretch run - Tex on the lead (98k)
Race 3 - Stretch run - hangin' in tough (96k)
Race 3 - Another VOP Winner! (326k)