This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Every day is probably a good day to be named Jimmer, but Saturday was even better than usual. While former BYU player Jimmer Fredette was celebrating his 23rd birthday on Saturday with 22,700 of his closest friends at the Marriott Center — he spoke to the crowd at halftime about breast cancer awareness and voting for BYU coach Dave Rose in the Infiniti Coaches Charity Challenge — another Jimmer was having a spectacular day in Arkansas. The racehorse named Jimmer, a 3-year-old colt, won his career debut at Oaklawn Park. Jimmer won a six-furlong maiden special weight race by 1 1/2 lengths. The colt went off at 9-1 odds and paid those lucky enough to have wagered on him $21.40 (for every $2 they bet on him to win. He finished the race in 1 minute, 11.5 seconds. The horse is owed by Winstar Farm and trained by Shannon Ritter. He was supposed to make his debut at the Saratoga track near Jimmer Fredette's hometown of Glens Falls, N.Y., last summer but was injured (buckled shins).