DEDICATION OF REFRIGERATOR BRONZE AT AQHA

Refrigerator Bronze Dedication Available on YouTube



—JUNE 5, 2007—A larger-than-life-size bronze of multiple-champion racehorse Refrigerator with five-time AQHA Champion Jockey Kip Didericksen in the irons takes its place in front of the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum today.
A video of the dedication is available to view on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvBM5xIKtkc.

The bronze, sculpted by renowned equine artist Lisa Perry, is a gift of Jim and Marilyn Helzer and will join The Dogwood Horse, The Finalist and Rugged Lark in the entrance to the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum in Amarillo.

On the racetrack, greatness is measured in wins and dollars. Success is rewarded with championships. Refrigerator embodied greatness and success while capturing the hearts of fans. He established himself as one of the pre-eminent racehorses of all time by breaking the $2 million earnings mark.

American Quarter Horse racing changed February 1, 1988, when a bay colt by Rare Jet out of the Heisanative (TB) mare Native Parr was born. Bred by Sonny Vaughn of Wayne, Oklahoma, the colt was registered with a one-word moniker that would one day give his rivals chills – Refrigerator. Making a name for himself as a hard-to-handle 2-year-old, “Fridge” was described as fast as lightning. Racing for Delton Dean and trained by Rodney Reed, Refrigerator broke his maiden on first asking while winning a trial to the Poor Boy Futurity (R) by three-quarters of a length. A week later, he finished second in the final. It was the beginning of an illustrious career.

Jim and Marilyn Helzer purchased Refrigerator on June 22, 1990, to pursue their dream of winning the All American Futurity (G1). On September 3, 1990, Refrigerator made the dream a reality by winning the prestigious race by daylight and earned the first $1 million of his record-setting career.

He finished off the board only three times in his 36-race career. Refrigerator won 22 races, including 11 stakes races – 10 of which were Grade 1 events. The gelding ran second eight times and third three times. He was stakes-placed 10 times. Racing in 1990-95, Refrigerator earned $2,126,309. Winning the Champion of Champions (G1) a record three times, Refrigerator was voted the World Champion Racing American Quarter Horse in 1992-93. The champion 2-year-old of 1990 and the champion 3-year-old gelding of 1991, Refrigerator earned 10 championship titles. Fridge was trained by Neill Garcia, Dwayne “Sleepy” Gilbreath and Blane Schvaneveldt. He was ridden by Bruce Pilkenton and Kip Didericksen.