The Inside Track by Tim Keithley: Consigliere Returns in Grade-II $40,000 Higheasterjet Handicap, Saturday, June 27, 2020

Consigliere, a four-year-old gelding owned by Rafter Stables and trained by Mike Joiner, returns Saturday as the 7/2 favorite in Saturday’s $40,000 Higheasterjet Handicap.

Ridden by Noe Garcia Jr., Consigliere (#6) was assigned 127 pounds by the racing office as the race’s high weight. The horse finished second in the $40,000 John Andreini Memorial Stakes at Ruidoso Downs May 25.

“He’s the best older horse I have in the barn,” Joiner said. “This horse is tough—always seems to bring his best whenever he runs.”

Consigliere is 8-for-11 in the money thus far in his career with one second and two third-place finishes at Ruidoso Downs, although he has never won here in four attempts.

Strong competition could come from Jess My Kiss (#9) with morning line odds of 9/2. The five-year-old makes his first local appearance after having spent most all his career at Los Alamitos Race Course. He’ll be ridden by Sal Martinez and was assigned 126 pounds to carry by the racing office.

“We raised that horse in Idaho when we lived there before moving to New Mexico,” co-owner and trainer Mark Brown said. He’s been working well, and he seems ready to go off a rest.”

Jess My Kiss competed in five stakes race finals at Los Alamitos and won the 2018 Los Alamitos Winter Derby. The horse has career earnings of nearly $300,000. 

Other horses to watch include: Thisizit (#1), owned by Sam Natera and trained by Guadalupe Munoz Jr., who was assigned 125 pounds. The four-year-old gelding won a $25,000 optional claiming race here June 7 and has odds of 6-1; and SC Money Maker, a four-year-old gelding who competed in two mid-level allowance races at Remington Park in the spring. Owned by Reliance Ranches, SC Money Maker is trained by trainer Mike Robbins and is 8-1 on the morning line.

The race is named in honor of Higheasterjet, who was the first quarter horse to win both the All American Futurity and All American Derby in 1980 and 1981. Higheasterjuet was the first quarter horse to win over $1 million, with career earnings of $1.6 million. Higheasterjet was owned by Jerry Highsmith and trained by Johnie Goodman.