Cers Final Try Victorious in Rainbow Derby | Ratification Wins Rainbow Oaks | Love Is Everything V Takes Rainbow Invitational
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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Stable Notes by Mike Ahrens: Saturday, July 18, 2020
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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Rainbow Weekend at Ruidoso Downs Race Track - Cyber Monday Continues Quest for Quarter Horse Triple Crown
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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Weekend Preview by Mike Ahrens: July 17 - 19, 2020
Saturday kicks off stakes action with the Rainbow Invitational Stakes, the inaugural Rainbow Oaks, and the Rainbow Derby in races six, eight and ten, respectively. The Rainbow Invitational is for three-year-olds who competed in the Rainbow Derby trials and did not qualify for the finals.
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The Inside Track by Tim Keithley: What the Trainers are Saying about the Rainbow Futurity
Tim Keithley talks with trainers for the Inside Track about the upcoming Rainbow Futurity at Ruidoso Downs Race Track.
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The Inside Track by Tim Keithley: What the Trainers are Saying about the Rainbow Derby
Tim Keithley talks with trainers for the Inside Track about the upcoming Rainbow Derby at Ruidoso Downs Race Track.
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The Inside Track by Tim Keithley: What Trainers are Saying about the Rainbow Oaks
Tim Keithley talks with trainers for the Inside Track about the upcoming Rainbow Oaks at Ruidoso Downs Race Track.
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Weekend Wrap-Up by Mike Ahrens: July 10 - 12, 2020
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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Donelli Clocks Fastest Qualifying Time in Zia Derby Trials
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 Runs Away with Fastest Qualifying Time in Zia Futurity Trials
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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Stable Notes by Mike Ahrens: Friday, July 10, 2020
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 Horses Take Center Stage This Weekend During the Zia Futurity and Zia Derby Trials
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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Weekend Preview by Mike Ahrens: July 10 - 12, 2020
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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The Inside Track by Tim Keithley: Five Horses to Watch in Friday's Zia Futurity
Tim Keithley picks five runners to pay attention to in Friday's Zia Futurity.
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Ruidoso Downs Race Track announces revised jockey policy in response to COVID-19 pandemic
The new explosion of COVID-19 cases around the country, especially in Texas, coupled with the close contact that jockeys experience in the Jockeys’ Quarters has created a new health issue for Ruidoso Downs Race Track. In order to remain vigilant and protect the race meet, the following order is issued to the Ruidoso Jockey Colony:
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Weekend Wrap-Up by Mike Ahrens: July 3 - 5, 2020
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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Hotsempting Runs Away with Fastest Qualifying Time in Rainbow Derby Trials
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 Leads the Field in Inaugural Rainbow Oaks Trials
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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Wryker Sets the Mark High on Second Day Rainbow Futurity Trials
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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Stable Notes by Mike Ahrens: Saturday, July 4, 2020
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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