Ruidoso Downs Opens Racing Season With Day One Of The Ruidoso Futurity Trials

Elmer and B Icy, Ruidoso Futurity trials, Ruidoso Downs Race Track. Photo by Jake Rogers, courtesy of Ruidoso Downs.

RUIDOSO DOWNS, NM – May 22, 2020 – Quarter Horse racing returned to Ruidoso Downs today with 14 trials for 2-year-olds vying for a spot in the Grade 1 $1,000,000 Ruidoso Futurity. The top five times of the day secured a spot in the finals with the remaining five spots going to the five fastest times in day two of the trials tomorrow. The fastest time of the day was clocked by Elmer who ran a speedy 17.799 against a slight headwind. The colt, trained by Jose Efren Meraz and ridden by Federico Martinez, is owned by La Feliz Montana Ranch, LLC.

The second-fastest time of the day was B Icy who ran second to Elmer and also came out of the third race. Crossing the line at 17.896, the gelding had Jose Ortiz aboard and is trained by Juventino Ruiz and owned by US Alliance Logistics (Ernesto Palacio et al).

Just as they did in the schooling works, horses trained by Michael Joiner showed their talent on the track today. Joiner-trained horses easily secured the third and fourth spots in the final. Tuckk started the day off by dominating the first race with a time of 17.934 and winning by two lengths with Raul Ramirez riding the sorrel colt. With the headwinds steadily increasing, jockey Noe Garcia, Jr. then guided Misscandymountain to an easy win in the tenth race with a time of 17.900.

The final qualifier of the day was Apollitical Redflash, a gelding out of Apollitical Jess. Apollitical Redflash is trained by Clinton Crawford, ridden by Francisco Calderon and owned by Cavenaugh Quarter Horses, LLC (Donald Cavenaugh et al). The final qualifying time of the day was clocked at 17.990.

The next five fastest times of the day qualified for the $100,000 Ruidoso Juvenile Stakes. Those horses include Speed Dynasty, For the Irony, Kj Sonny P, Famous Shining Star, and Tlc Apache Heart. The Ruidoso Juvenile will be run on June 7th.