Tim Keithley talks with trainers for the Inside Track about the upcoming Rainbow Derby at Ruidoso Downs Race Track.
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Tim Keithley talks with trainers for the Inside Track about the upcoming Rainbow Oaks at Ruidoso Downs Race Track.
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Saturday saw the Zia Derby trials as races two through six, from which the 10 fastest times will proceed to the finals. The seasonal bow of Mister Riptide was a winning one, earning him the eighth-fastest time of the day and a berth two weeks hence. He was the only horse from the first two of five total trials to make the finals.
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On an overcast and breezy day at Ruidoso Downs, it was Donelli in the fourth heat that notched the fastest qualifying time with a time of 19.668, followed closely by Close to Crazy and First Neon Moon who also qualified from that same heat. The finals for the Grade II Zia Derby will be run on July 25th when 3-year-old New Mexico-bred Quarter Horses compete at 400 yards for a purse of $187,780.
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Cristom saved the best for last today at Ruidoso Downs Race Track when he ran a blistering fast 19.764 in the 11th and final trial heat to capture the fastest qualifying time for the 2020 Zia Futurity. The $375,000 Zia Futurity, a Grade I stakes race for New Mexico-bred Quarter Horses, will be run at 400 yards on July 26th.
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Today was the Zia Quarter Horse Futurity Trials, consisting of eleven races with the top 10 fastest times going to the finals. There was minimal wind through much of the day with a mild tailwind during a handful of races. The fastest qualifier came in the very last trial, when Cristom, ridden by Noe Garcia, Jr. and trained by Fred Danley, blew them away to post a 19.764. Cristom entered off a maiden win June 21st, the gelding's lone outing prior to today.
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New Mexico-bred Quarter Horses will race 400 yards this weekend for a chance to run in the Grade 1 $375,000 Zia Futurity and the Grade II $175,000 Zia Derby later this summer at Ruidoso Downs. The rest of the weekend race card is full of exciting, maiden, claiming, and allowance races.
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This weekend is forecast to be warm and loaded with regional horse racing as Friday we have 11 trials for the Zia Quarter Horse Futurity for New Mexico breds, Saturday has five trials for the Zia Quarter Horse Derby as well as the Regional Juvenile Challenge Stakes with preference given to finalists of the Rillito Park Regional Challenge Juvenile after their meet was canceled due to Covid-19, and Sunday features the division of that latter Regional Challenge Stakes for older horses. In addition, there are several thoroughbred maidens for New Mexico bred two-year-olds.
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Tim Keithley picks five runners to pay attention to in Friday's Zia Futurity.
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Trials for the inaugural Rainbow Oaks took place in races one through four today. The fourth and final saw the triumphant return of Fernweh, winner of the 2019 Ruidoso Futurity. Jockey Ricky Ramirez never uncocked his stick and she strolled to win by two-and-a-half in 21.350. That time was not the fastest for the fillies-only trials, which went to Ratification the trial prior who dominated in 21.293.
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The field is now set for the Rainbow Derby finals, and it came down to the final trial heat to get the fastest qualifier of the day. The filly Hotsempting showed the boys on the track how to get it done when she charged down the middle of the track and ran a lightning-fast time of 21.281 in an impressive performance.
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Ratification turned in the fastest qualifying time out of four heats in today’s first-ever Rainbow Oaks trials at Ruidoso Downs Race Track. Under cloudy skies with a slight tailwind, 32 fillies took to the track in the all-new division that was created this season for the Rainbow and All American Derby series to enhance the value of fillies and give them a greater chance of winning later in their 3-year-old career.
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On Day Two of Rainbow Futurity trials, as it was on Day One, the sixth race proved to be stacked with speed. Wryker, a Texas-bred gelding, blazed a 400-yard trail to the wire and clocked:19.524, the fastest qualifying time over the two days. Packsaddle Senator, the fifth-place finisher in the Ruidoso Futurity, also qualified from that race with a time of:19.685.
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The weather today was fairly constant with a moderate tailwind or minor cross-wind throughout the day. Clouds came and went, the temperature went up and down. But after the seventh race, not a single horse through the remaining half of the card was able to crack the top five fastest times, though in the finale HR Princess Jess ran a dynamite race to just miss that mark.
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The first day of trials for the GI $1 Million Rainbow Futurity, the second leg of the Quarter Horse Triple Crown, started off with a bang and did not disappoint. Ruidoso Futurity winner, Cyber Monday, ran in the first heat and blazed the 400-yards with a full head of steam, crossing the wire in:19.838. This time held until the eleventh race when the sorrel gelding, Mister Illusion charged down the track with a time of:19.780.
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We started the day with a mild crosswind, had a headwind in the third race, back to crosswind for a couple of races before a strong tailwind in the middle part of the day, back to a mild crosswind for the remainder with a brief rain shower in only the 13th race. So, fairly typical and variable weather of Ruidoso. The five fastest times from today's trials will proceed to the finals.
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The race card this weekend at Ruidoso Downs features three days of trials highlighting some of the fastest 2-year-old and 3-year-old Quarter Horses in the industry, and they will all be running against the clock. Almost 300 2-year-olds will run in 30-time trial heats vying for a spot in the GI $1 Million Rainbow Futurity, the second leg of the Quarter Horse Triple Crown on Friday and Saturday. Sunday’s card features a time trial double-header with 72 head running for a chance at the $700,000 Rainbow Derby, and 32 mares and fillies competing for a spot in the inaugural $300,000 Rainbow Oaks.
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Tim Keithley picks five runners to pay attention to in Sunday’s Rainbow Derby/Oaks Trials.
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Tim Keithley picks five runners to pay attention to in Saturday’s Trials for the $1 Million Rainbow Futurity.
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Tim Keithley picks five runners to pay attention to in Friday’s trials for the $1 million Rainbow Futurity.
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