Racing royalty returns to Ruidoso Downs this weekend as 2018 All American Futurity champion Apocalyptical Jess returns to race in the $40,000 Mr Jet Moore Handicap on Sunday afternoon as #10 in the ninth race.
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As we head closer to All American trials many contenders are putting in their final serious preparations. Thursday’s training had numerous workers getting ready.
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Sunday’s featured tenth race, the $40,000 Mr Jet Moore Handicap, a 400-yard Grade 2 stakes race for 3-year-old and older Quarter Horses is shaping up to be a shoot-out. Morning line favorite Valiant Tiberias will have his hands full going up against the speedy Apocalyptical Jess, Higheasterjet Handicap winner Sc Moneymaker, and John Andreini Memorials Stakes champ New News who hopes to extend his winning streak to three in a row.
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Zia Festival weekend was chock full of New Mexico-bred stakes action. Friday saw the Rio Grande Senorita and Senor trials for two-year-old thoroughbreds. Trainer Fred Danley came away with a victory in one of the Senorita trials with Fill The Bill, the disqualified winner of the Mountain Top Futurity, and a second-place effort by Bully Baby. Trainer Joel Marr completed the exacta in the first of the Senorita trials when Atill I Chime held off stablemate Speedy Wildcat who made a strong bid inside the former but could not get past.
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Zia Festival Weekend concluded with a flurry of stakes races today at Ruidoso Downs Race Track including the featured Grade I Zia QH Futurity which was won by Hollyn Bootie. Hollyn Bootie, who ran the 400 yards in 19.85, is owned by Mark and Fay Annette McCloy who also won the Zia Derby yesterday with their horse Mister Riptide.
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With rain coming down hard on a muddy track, Mister Riptide hit the wire first in the Grade II Zia Derby today at Ruidoso Downs Race Track. Last year’s winner of the Zia Futurity ran the 400-yard course in 19.885 to win the signature race for New Mexico-bred 3-year-olds on this weekend’s Zia Festival race card.
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New Mexico-bred Thoroughbreds took center stage at Ruidoso Downs today to battle it out for a spot in the finals of the Rio Grande Senorita Futurity and the Rio Grande Senor Futurity finals. Only the first trial heat ran on a fast, dry track as there was an extended rain/lighting delay after which the track condition was changed to wet for the rest of the program. Each final race will go 5 ½ furlongs for a purse $125,000 on August 16th at Ruidoso Downs Race Track.
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New Mexico horsemen who are blessed to train fast state-bred two-year-old quarter horses must solve this annual puzzle: Do we win the $392,537 Zia Futurity or point the horse to the $3 million All American Futurity trials in August? Or both?
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Trainer Juan M. Gonzalez sends out several live runners in stakes this weekend. The trainer's son, Juan Carlos, who oversees much of the day to day training, was quite high on their two runners in the Zia Derby as well as two other runners who are new to the barn.
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It was cloudy most of the day, but the sun started to peak through about the time of the Rainbow Juvenile Stakes and then the clouds parted nearly completely by the time of the Rainbow Futurity. However, there were no rainbows to be seen in the sky, but some great two year olds did show up on the track.
Whistle Stop Cafe broke clean and found another gear in the last 150 yards to win the Grade I $1 Million Rainbow Futurity by ¾ of a length over morning line favorite Mister Illusion. Seven ran third, and post time favorite and Ruidoso Futurity champion Cyber Monday finished fourth taking away any chance of a Triple Crown winner in the Quarter Horse division in 2020. Undefeated Whistle Stop Cafe, who ran the 400 yards in 19.492, returned $14.40 on a $2 win ticket. The race was run under partly cloudy skies on a fast track.
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In the feature stakes race of the day, the Grade I Rainbow Derby, all eyes were on the filly Hotsempting who took on the colts and geldings in the open division instead of running in the new Oaks division for fillies. In the end, it came down to three horses hitting the wire almost simultaneously with Cers Final Try winning with a time of 21.368. Hotsempting ran a very close second with a time of 21.378, and Gold Heart Eagle V was third with a time of 21.380. The 440-yard dash for a purse of $710,414 was run under cloudy skies on a fast track with almost no wind.
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After two scratches in the Rainbow Invitational, the two runners from the also eligibles list drew in, so a field of ten went postward. The favorite was Love Is Everything V, trained by Eddie Willis and ridden by Jimmy Dean Brooks who was celebrating his 55th birthday today. It was definitely a happy birthday, as the sorel gelding dug in gamely to win by a neck.
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The road to the All American Futurity, the world’s richest Quarter Horse race, continues this weekend at Ruidoso Downs Race Track as 10 of the fastest 2-year-olds race 400 yards for $1 Million in the Grade I Rainbow Futurity on Sunday. One of those horses includes Cyber Monday, the winner of the 2020 Ruidoso Futurity, who with a win would keep his hopes alive for having a shot at the $2 Million Triple Crown bonus.
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Tim Keithley talks with trainers for the Inside Track about the upcoming Rainbow Futurity at Ruidoso Downs Race Track.
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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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