Saturday is AQHA Day at the Races

RUIDOSO DOWNS, NM – AUGUST 13, 2020 – This weekend, New Mexico-bred Thoroughbreds will take center stage on Sunday in the finals of the $134,667 Rio Grande Senor Futurity and the $133,828 Rio Grande Senorita Futurity. On Saturday, Ruidoso Downs welcomes the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) to the track for the AQHA Day at the Races which will feature three Challenge races and an on-track demonstration of other Quarter Horse disciplines.

Sunday’s sixth race is the Rio Grande Senorita Thoroughbred Futurity for 2-year-old New Mexico-bred fillies at 5 ½ furlongs. Trainer Joel Marr landed four in the final, however, Fill The Bill, out of the Fred Danley barn is expected to be the one to beat. Fill The Bill won the 2020 Mountain Top Futurity earlier in the summer and is the morning line favorite.

Colts and geldings will then have their turn in the co-feature of the day, the Rio Grande Senor Thoroughbred Futurity, also at 5 ½ furlongs. The Todd Fincher barn is well represented in this race as six of the ten finalists are Fincher-trained. It is expected to be an exciting race as morning line favorite Jornalero battles it out with My Storm Warrior who ran second to Fill The Bill in the 2020 Mountain Top Futurity and Aisle Runner who finished second to Jornalero in the trials.

Saturday’s race card features three races - the John Deere Ruidoso Downs QH Challenge, the Ruidoso Downs Distaff Challenge and the Adequan Ruidoso Downs Derby Challenge - that are part of the 2020 Bank of America Regional Challenge Championships. The winners of these races qualify to compete in the Challenge Championships which are scheduled to be held on October 24th at The Downs at Albuquerque. 

The $31,136 Ruidoso Downs Distaff Challenge is the fifth race on Saturday’s card and is for fillies and mares that are 3-years-old and older. The race is set at 400 yards and features Lynnder 16 who was a top 2-year-old at Ruidoso Downs and is the morning line favorite.

The seventh race on Saturday’s program is the $88,544 Grade III John Deere Ruidoso Downs Quarter Horse Challenge, a 350-yard race for 2-year-olds. Trainer Mike Joiner has three finalists in this race including Grace of Monaco, Lastraintoclarksvill and Graceful Paradise.

The final race of the Challenge series will be the ninth race, the Adequan Ruidoso Downs Derby Challenge. In this race, 3-year-olds will run 400 yards for their share of the $56,474 purse. Silk and Stilettos is the morning line favorite.

The AQHA will also conduct an on-track exhibition featuring a variety of different Quarter Horse disciplines including jumping and reining between the 5th and 6thraces. 

Post time is 1:00 PM MDT on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. At this time, the Turf Club and the Jockey Club are limited to 50% capacity due to the Public Health Order from the State of New Mexico. For more information on how to watch online, place your bet with your favorite online wagering provider, or conduct drive-thru wagering, please visit RaceRuidoso.com.