TED AND CHERYL WRIGHT

    Anyone involved in Arabian racing remembers the late Dr. Sam Harrison. Dr. Sam, as he was better known, founded the Arabian Racing Cup and was one of the strongest, most faithful supporters of Arabian racing.
   "Dr. Sam helped get Arabian racing started," said Corky Parker of the Arabian Jockey Club. "He had a knack for getting people involved. That was his forte. His efforts were huge in getting new people involved in Arabian racing.
   Two of Dr. Sam's accomplishments, so to speak, are Kinsman "Ted" Wright and his wife Cheryl. The Wrights, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, are relative new- comers to Arabian racing and, like many owners, they owe it all to Dr. Sam.
    "My wife and I had just moved to a farm, when two people came by and said, 'do you know Dr. Sam?' " Ted Wright recalled.
      Several months passed before the Wrights finally met Harrison.
"It just so happened that I had a convention in Phoenix to go to, and a big Arabian national show was there," said Ted Wright, a cardiologist and one of the founders of the Chattanooga Heart Institute. The Wrights joined Dr. Sam to watch a few Arabian races that weekend and before long they were planning their future as Arabian horse owners.
    Dr. Sam, who lived about 60 miles from the Wrights' new farm, took them to an auction in Ocala, Florida. There, the Wrights purchased their first Arabian mare, Mistreak.
    In another twist of fate, Dr. Sam and Ted Wright both ended up visiting southern California at the same time. Dr. Sam took the Wrights to Los Alamitos Race Course, where he gave them their first real took at top-quality Arabian racing.
   "He said, 'if you're going to breed horses, you ought to race horses.' And that was really the start of it," Ted Wright said.
   If even a portion of Dr. Sam's passion for Arabian racing rubbed off on the Wrights, which it looks like is has, Arabian racing may be looking at it's newest promoters and friends - Ted and Cheryl Wright.