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Hall of Fame - Kwa Taq Nuk

Original article written by Nathan Klein posted 3 years 2 weeks ago

Kwa Taq Nuk was a horse with a hard to pronounce name. But it was even harder to defeat him. Kwa Taq Nuk was a fast horse but despite being a sprinter he had one of the most impractical strategies for 300-yard sprints, late closing. In his first start, he dropped to 8th place of 12 horses in the first half of the race but by the next 100 meters he kicked it up a notch splitting horses to win his first race by a strong 3/4ths of a length. A significant margin for an Appaloosa race. His late burst of speed would prove to be an ace in the hole in his next 4 starts. Zooming past his rivals in the Appy 2-Year-Old Sprints, Montana Appy Sprint Special and New Mexico Sprint Challenge. Easily able to make up an entire horse length in just 100 yards.

However, despite it being such an effective weapon in listed stakes races things completely flipped when he made his grade 1 debut. Just like before he dropped himself back. But this time he had no rally. Despite making a small acceleration with 100 yards to go it simply was too late his 5 rivals had already left him behind and he finished 6th unable to beat a single horse. It would be the only time he would ever lose in his 10 career starts. Despite ending his 2-year-old-season on a whimper he would still be awarded Appaloosa Champion Two Year Old Male thanks to his 4 previous victories.

At the age of 3, he would come back strong managing to start the season with a win in the Angry Appaloosa Stakes. Exploding late and getting up to win by a head. He would continue the success by getting his first-ever graded stakes to victory in the grade 3 New Mexico Appaloosa Sweepstakes by a strong neck. He would then get up to win 2 more stakes races in preparation for his second chance at a grade 1 win. He would run in the grade 1 Appaloosa Dash, and it would truly be his final test. He would be facing off against fellow Hall of Famer Blackfoot who was the previous year won the Appaloosa Dash.

The race started with all 12 runners bursting out as fast as they could with Rajan taking the early lead. But then with his trademark burst of speed Kwa Taq Nuk burst from 9th place and zoomed-in between horses he easily passed Black Foot and by the wire he had a strong quarter of a length lead over second-place finisher Miami Mode. Black Foot was only a head and neck behind Miami Mode in 4th place. Kwa Taq Nuk had gotten his redemption proving that 9 times out of 10 if you raced Kwa Taq Nuk he would catch you before the finish line. At the end of the year, he would be awarded both Appaloosa Champion Three Year Old Male and Appaloosa Horse of the Year. He was then retired immediately after the Appaloosa Dash to start his second career as a stud. As a stud, he would manage to be even more successful siring 35 total stakes winners. As well his progeny would go on to win a total of 8 Stewards Cup races which included 3-time Stewards Cup winner A Good Irish who stands in the Hall Of Fame along with his father.


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