Page 48 - NM Spring 2019

2018 New Mexico Quarter Horse Champions
NM Champion QH Older Mare
Mamacita Cartel
(Big Daddy Cartel–Posies Woodette, Woodbridge Bred/Owned by: David V. Bloomer
Trained by: Cynthia Gonzales
2018: 9-5-3-0 $234,780
1st – NM Fillies & Mares Championship (RG1), 1st Jimmy Drake Stakes (RG3)
It’s no secret that, in the world of Quarter Horse racing, the spotlight shines most brightly on the young crowd....the two-year-old futurity contend- ers. It’s always interesting to follow the successful futurity performers into their derby seasons; looking at the line-up for a major race and finding out how many of the 10 horses underwent some form of
leg surgery between their two and three-year-old competitions. Sometimes, you’ll find out they were all “cleaned up” in one form of surgery or another.
Efforts have been made over the years to shift more focus to the older horses. Those efforts have been successful in many derbies but, more often than not, it stops there. That’s why a mare such as Mamacita Cartel brings on appreciative whistles.
The five-year-old bay mare is a New Mexico favorite who takes coming out of a starting gate very seriously. She’s been well-managed by her connec- tions, with 17 lifetime starts. Her record is 6-4-2 with $265,309. Somewhat surprisingly, nine of those trips came in 2018 with five wins and three seconds. Off the board only one time, the mare racked up $234,780. She’s apparently defied the aging process, getting stronger and better with each season.
Opening her pathway to her 2018 title were her victories in the RG3 Jimmy Drake at SunRay Park
on May 25 and the RG1 NM Fillies and Mares Championship at Zia on December 2.
The fourth generation of Mamacita Cartel’s pedigree brims over with Dash For Cash crosses, and functions as a beautiful industry roadmap of people and bloodlines.
The mare’s top and bottom are the product of MJ Farms. There are also strong overtones of Lazy E in Oklahoma, of Dutch Masters III in California and of little Texas tracks that long ago fell by the wayside. And look at the mare’s dam, Posies Woodette, for echoes of trainer Russell Harris and Calyx along with the royal Thor- oughbred mare Trippy Dip and her equally royal owner Abigail Kawanakakoa.
NM Champion QH Older Horse/Gelding
Major Bites
(Jesse James Jr–Dyna Mo Rime, Major Rime) Bred by: Carlos F. Paez
Owned by: Israel Bordier
Trained by: Jesus J. Carrette
2018: 7-5-1-1 $458,000
1st – Namehimastreaker NM Classic Championship (RG1), 1st Zia Park Championship (G1), Mesilla Valley Speed Handicap (RG3), 1st Dona Anna County Stakes, 1st Moonflash Maturity
Major Bites, a bay gelding who turned six years old in 2019, illustrates the true beauty and experience of an older horse who is still loading into the starting gate.
The gelding’s career stats show a 104 speed index with a 10-6-4 record from 28 starts. The $721,712 he’s put into his
bank account earned him the nickname of “hard-knocking.” The really amazing part of the story is that he would have walked away from the track with only $263,712 if his connections had retired him prior to his 2018 season. With that in mind, it becomes impossible to not wonder how many horses may have been taken off the track too early. Both Major Bites and Mamacita Cartel, Champion Older Mare, are outstanding examples of the untapped talents of many older competitors.
In 2018, Major Bites logged seven starts and never failed to light the board with a 5-1-1 record and an even $458,000 in paychecks.
The gelding kicked off his performance in Janu- ary at Sunland Park with a victory in the Dona Ana County Handicap. It was an excellent warm-up
for him, priming him for his victory in the RG3 Mesilla Valley Speed Handicap, also at Sunland.
Major Bites enjoyed a nice hiatus after the Mesilla Valley, not returning to action until August when he brought home the trophy from the First Moonflash Maturity at Albu- querque. He followed that with an impres- sive run in the RG1 Namehimastreaker New Mexico Classic Championship in November at Albuquerque. Just a few days less than one month later, he kissed the competition good- bye in the G1 Zia Park Championship.
Major Bites’ pedigree has some interesting highlights. First, it’s stamped with MJ Farms’ signature through the deceased Jesse James Jr. Mr Jess Perry, Jesse James Jr’s sire, prompts long-time industry members to recollect the late Leverne Perry, who named the stallion after his father.
Major Bites is a double-bred Dash For Cash, but he also has a relatively strong dose of Thor- oughbred running through his lineage.
Loose Lips, the dam of Jesse James Jr, is
out of the TB mare Dondamar (Champagne Charlie-Patsy’s No Fool). Dyna Mo Rime, Ma- jor Bites’ dam, is out of the TB Dynamic Ego. On the bottom, Dynamic Ego takes us to the whirlwind mare known as Western Hand by the larger-than-life Master Hand.
“It’s no secret that, in the world of Quarter Horse racing, the spotlight shines most brightly on the young crowd...”
46 New Mexico Horse Breeder