(Saturday, August 9, 2003) - Fastest qualifier, I Make Em Shake was a convincing winner in the $124,120 TQHA Sires’ Cup Futurity (RG2), tonight’s feature at Sam Houston Race Park. Owned and bred by Betty Jo Spence of Orange, Texas, the gray son of Royal Shake Em, overcame a rough start, but drew off under rider Alvin "Bubba" Brossette. Trained by Philip Calais, Jr., I Make Em Shake completed the 350-yard stakes in a time of :17:706 and earned $49,648 for the victory.

"He didn’t get away (from the gate) too well," said Brossette. "He was in tight quarters and didn’t like the way the nine (Ms Andrea Jess) pushed his way through. But when he came on, he finished strongly."

"We had a lot of bad luck with him in Louisiana," said Calais. "We made a couple of changes and two weeks ago everything worked out in the trials and we maintained it tonight. Ms. Spence has him in the Dash For Cash (at Lone Star Park)."

"His success started more than twenty years ago with his great-grandmother, whose name was Splashy Julie," said Spence, who is the public information director for Lamar State College-Orange. "It goes back four generations. Philip Calais is absolutely the greatest and I have to thank my first man back at the farm, Russell Botley because he’s the one that brought him up, even getting him out of a barbed wire fence a few hours after he was born."

Ryan O Toole, who was supplemented to the TQHA Sires’ Cup Futurity by owner Ryan Guerra, ran second. The son of Jody O Toole will return to Sam Houston Race Park on Friday, August 22 for trials for the Sam Houston Futurity.

Cowboy Duncan, making just his second career start, ran third under Juan Vazquez.

"He’s a wild one, but he ran hard," commented Vazquez. "He got up even with (the winner) about midway but couldn’t stay with him. That is a nice horse that beat me."

Trainer Frank Cavazos agreed with Vazquez’ comments.

"I picked him up in March and we had to load in through the cattle chutes he was so wild," said Cavazos. "I spent a lot of time getting him broke and getting him ready for this race. I thought we were second again, but picture said third. He is paid up in the Texas Classic and I may just wait on that one for his next start."

I Make Em Shake, sent off as the post time favorite, returned $5.00 to win, $3.00 to place and $2.80 to show. The 3-8 exacta returned $49.40 and the 3-8-2 trifecta paid $279.60. Snow Me The Money, Lil Bit Rowdy, Ms Andrea Jess, Delta Defined and Jessies Arrangement completed the order of finish. Geeze and Jess My Heart were early scratches.