Stable Notes by Mike Ahrens: Opening Day May 22, 2020

The first day of trials saw winds range from seven to 16 miles per hour with the wind picking up a bit in the middle part of the day along with the track perhaps slowing down a bit from the earlier races due to increased sun and heat as well. Of the 10 fastest times of the day, four came from race three, two came from race 13, and one each from races one, two, four, and 10.

Trainer Mike Joiner won the opener with Tuckk and though this runner looked a bit green in his training race he appeared more focused today, with Joiner stating "We just got more experience. He looks like one of the better ones."

Jose Efren Meraz trains many horses for owner La Feliz Montana, and one named Elmer won the third race in the fastest time of the day. About the runners for La Feliz Montana Ranch he said "They're working real good. This one in the schooling race he bucked a little bit, but he ran today a little better."

Mo Pie Please won the fifth heat for trainer Wes Giles who always shows up with a good set of horses. Asked about this runner he said "It's his first race, he did ok. You know, he got lost a little bit." As for whether Giles' runners this year are better than his two-year-olds of last year he stated "I'll know at the end of the day." One of his more promising runners, My Favorite Hocks, was in the 14th and final race of the day and Giles said about him in advance of that event that "I really liked him the other day [in the schooling race], he looked pretty sharp and he acted like the distance was going to help him. Hopefully, the wind won't kill us by that time of day." Unfortunately My Favorite Hocks won the race but finished with the 11th fastest time of the day just missing an entry into the Ruidoso Juvenile consolation stakes. Giles also won with Sophia Maria in the seventh race but at a slightly slower time.

The sixth race went to Toby Keaton's Eyema Eagle. Cindy Keaton stated "This one kind of surprised us, she did good though. We've got some better ones in tomorrow, but you never know."

Blane Wood completed an exacta in the ninth running first and second with Remember Then and Torts On A Wagon. Neither were quick enough to make the final or consolation, but expect bigger things down the road from Wood's runners as he had this to say: "We're pretty green right now, we're trying to get some experience in 'em and hopefully we'll show it toward the end of the meet."

Joiner won again in the 10th race with Misscandymountain, running the third-fastest time of the day and one spot ahead of stablemate Tuckk. "I was pretty happy," he said "She'd shown some improvement...She threw a little fit in the gate in the schooling race. We put a flipping halter on her and it seemed to help her."

Race 13 appeared to have numerous good contenders, but Dangerous Cartel who was supplemented for Clint Crawford and Koolnmacho for Manuel Rodriguez both lost their shot when bumped and forced in at the start. Taking advantage of a clean trip and showing a game effort to the wire was For The Irony trained by Sergio Ibarra, who paid a whopping $158.20 to win. While a huge shock to the bettors he was only
a minor shock to Ibarra, who believes he has better runners in tomorrow for the second day of trials. Ibarra commented on his preparations for this horse and others coming into the weekend, saying "We haven't been able to have gates or any kind of training, so they kind of blew them a little bit with that first workout, so we're expecting bigger and better things with them. It's just a gamble with these horses, you know, especially when you don't have the facilities to train. Having the schooling races and being able to work--thanks to Ruidoso for opening the track and continuing to race, that's a big plus. That closure, when it closed at Sunland, it threw us all in a loop." It's definitely a big plus for the racing industry as a whole that we're up and running, and hopefully, we see some good horses from these trainers tomorrow as well.