For immediate release                            Contact:     Tim Keithley
                                                                                        575-937-4708
Saturday, May 25th, 2024                                             tkeithley@raceruidoso.com

TRIPLE CROWN REPORT Presented by:

La Feliz Montana Ranch’s Hovland Fastest During Windy Day of Day 2 Trials for $1 Million Ruidoso Futurity

(Ruidoso Downs, NM) Hovland and jockey Luis Martinez defied a strong twenty-mile-per-hour headwind to win the ninth trial race today at Ruidoso Downs Race Track by three-and-a-half lengths in the fastest time of the day, 17.770 seconds for 350-yards.

“This horse has overcome quite a bit of adversity,” owner Javier Rodriguez of La Feliz Montana Ranch said. “We worked with the gelding to overcome some bleeding issues and the horse really showed improvement today with an outstanding time.”

Hovland paid $8.40, $5.20 and $3.80 in a maiden win. The gelding was a $50,000 fall purchase at the Heritage Place Sale, sired by Freighttrain B out of the mare Jess a Sweetie by Apollitical Jess.

Horses that qualified for the Ruidoso Futurity final on June 9th all came from the final six races on the card including Brink Man V in the eleventh, Fdd Treasured Dreams in the twelfth, Aguila Rapids in the fifteenth and El Vencedor V in the sixteenth race. Strong winds played a determining factor in the races all day as the winds seemed to diminish late in the afternoon.

Racing continues on Sunday at Ruidoso Downs with the running of the $900,000 (est.) Ruidoso Derby Trials. There will be ten races on the card starting at 1 p.m.