Steve Luhm: JR Czech Swing is the best little race horse in Utah

Training the best little race horse in Utah isn't the same as training the best little race horse in, say, Kentucky.

But Ron Moosman isn't complaining.

JR Czech Swing, a 2-year-old filly trained by Moosman, has won the first three starts of her career, including the $51,700 Beehive Futurity on May 18.

Last week, JR Czech Swing made it 3 for 3 by winning an Ed Giles Memorial Futurity trial by three lengths in 17.334 seconds — an eye-popping margin and time for a 350-yard quarter horse race.

If you could bet on races in Utah, JR Czech Swing would be the overwhelming favorite to win the $38,600 Giles Futurity final on June 29 at the Salt Lake Equestrian Park.

"She's just a nice race horse," said Moosman. "She loves to run and has all the talent in the world."

JR Czech Swing's road to success started a few years ago, when Moosman picked the filly's mother out of a California sale for owners Robert Hosier of Alamo, Nev., and Jay Bingham of Las Vegas.

Hosier and Bingham paid $5,100 for JR Corona Jazz. On the track, she won futurities in Wyoming and Nevada and earned more than $45,000.

When she was retired, JR Corona Jazz became a broad mare. She was matched with a Grade I winner named Swinging Jess and JR Czech Swing was the result.

"She reminds me of her mother," Moosman said. "She's not very big, but their temperament is about the same."

Said Hosier: "Her mama was very fast out of the gate, and this filly has picked up a lot of that quickness."

JR Czech Swing, however, does not have the classic look of a champion race horse.

"You might not pick her out of a sale because of her size," Moosman said. "You might walk right by her because she's so small."

At one point, in fact, Hosier and Bingham wondered if JR Czech Swing would be capable of competing on the race track.

"They weren't real high on her because of her size," Moosman said. "They considered not running her. But I told them, 'Don't worry about her size. Size doesn't matter with this one.' "

If JR Czech Swing runs well in the Giles Futurity finals, she will be pointed toward the John Deere Juvenile trials in August at Los Alamitos in California.

"If she shows us she can compete down there, we'll probably look for one more nice futurity before the end of the year," said Hosier, who plans to run JR Czech Swing as a 3-year-old.

"… After that," he said, "she's off to be a broad mare, just like her mama."

It would be a fitting legacy.

Last year while giving birth, JR Corona Jazz died. The foal also died, meaning JR Czech Swing is her last offspring.

"We were hoping she'd turn out to be something special," Hosier said.